Author: blogger

Emergence Of Sport Tech In Technical Textile Industry

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Today sports in India have achieved a peak in terms of popularity and as a career option. Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, SAF Games, Wimbledon and many other world sports tournaments see Indians as one of the most leading sports participants in the world. From Tendulkar, Paes, Bhupathi, Anand, Geet Sethi, Karthikeyan to Sania Mirza lead the present sports generation of India. Cricket, Hockey, Football, Snooker, weightlifting, Kabaddi, Kho Kho and Archery are the sports of India that have been deep seated into an Indian psyche, whether of a sports person or a sports lover. Not only physical strength, power and satisfaction but also a strong alternative of recreation; sports in India have covered a long way towards the road of success and have made themselves a hallmark in the world of sports.

Sports footwear includes appropriate shoes for different sports. Keeping in view the movement of feet and the type of surface on which a sport is played, the shoes uppers and soles are designed to meet the varying performance requirements.

Textile components form an integral part of sports and sporty look footwear. In terms of value, approximately 20 percent of the components used in sports shoes are textiles, while the remaining cost is contributed by non-textile components such as soles, polyurethane, foam leather on uppers, counters, eyelets etc. Shoe uppers and lining on the counter, socks below the shoe uppers are made of textiles and constitute nearly 95 percent of the total textiles used in sport shoes. Other textile components, though consumed in minor quantities, are nonwoven textiles, laces, tapes, threads, lables, elastic etc. The shoe uppers and linings used in the inner part counters and socks are made of laminated fabrics. Nonwoven fabrics are used as interlinings. The laminated fabrics for shoe uppers may comprise fabric laminated with foam, polyurethane, rubber etc. In the premium range of shoes, sandwiched meshes may be used instead of fabric-foam laminated uppers.

Three different kinds of fabrics, knitted, woven and non-woven are used for sports shoes. The fibres used for such fabrics are polyester, polyester-viscose, cotton and nylon. Sandwiched mesh also known as high-tech three dimensional fabrics Consisting of micro filaments sandwiched between two layers of meshes is also used as alternative to foam laminated fabrics. Fibres used in these fabrics wick moisture away from the skin to the outer layer of the fabric, thereby facilitating faster evaporation. However, such high performance fabrics are used only in some variants of premium range of sports shoes produced by branded companies. Polyester, polypropylene, nylon and cotton are used for Sportech. However, the predominant use is that of polyester since it is cheap. Nylon is used for the premium range of shoes. Cotton is used predominantly in canvas shoes and childrens shoes.

The Indian sports footwear industry is labour intensive and is concentrated in small and cottage industry sector. Nearly 95 percent of sports footwear is produced in the small / cottage units concentrated in and around Delhi and mere 5 percent in the organized sector.

Sports shoes are available in a wide variety at prices lower than leather footwear. These shoes are comfortable and can be worn for different purposes such as jogging, casual wear, leisure wear etc. The increasing use of sportswear as leisure wear has also been positively impacting the demand of sports shoes. As a result, the sports footwear industry has witnessed a healthy growth of around 10-15 percent per annum during the last decade and has grown to a 595 mn. Pairs of sports shoe market, valued at about Rs.5950 crore. The annual consumption of laminated fabrics by sports footwear industry is about 120 mn. Sq. mtrs and 80 percent of the same is sourced indigenously.

Jewelry Industry Embargo On Zimbabwe’s Conflict Diamonds

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Apparently Zimbabwe’s plan to sell off the conflict diamonds from their Marange diamond fields is simply not going to come through as long as the HRW (Human Rights Watch) has any say in the matter. The HRW specifically instructed the leading diamond jewelry providers in the world to keep their distance from any diamonds from Zimbabwe. Specifically, Arvind Ganesan, Director of the Business & Human Rights Division at HRW, released an official warning regarding a full on embargo of Zimbabwe diamonds due to their many violations of serious human rights conditions. According to Arvind Ganesan, Zimbabwean diamonds are conflict diamonds in every sense of the term, and as such the HRW is requesting that jewelry retailers and jewelry consumers boycott these diamonds until the human rights infringements reach their end. In fact, Arvind Ganesan wrote a letter asking as much from leaders in the diamond jewelry industry, such as Cartier, Tiffany’s, and Zale.

Arvind Ganesan has turned to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme as well as the World Diamond Council in an attempt to expand the current definition of blood diamonds to contain diamonds acquired by governments in conflict and not only diamonds by rebel groups. In his letter, the Director of the Human Rights Watch requested that major diamond jewelry retailers issue public statements regarding refusal to purchase Zimbabwean diamonds. Such acts on the parts of the major players in the diamond retail community will surely have some significant long-term effects on diamond production from the Murowa diamond mine, as well as the River Ranch diamond mine, which are thought to be channels for the sale of diamonds from the Marange fields in Zimbabwe.

In the letter, Arvind Ganesan also appeals to the powerful members of the diamond industry to use their influence on the Kimberley Process to ensure that Zimbabwe is fully suspended from the group up to the point when they actually meet basic human rights standards. As per reports from HRW, such human rights infringements as killing, smuggling, and child labor have been going on until just this October and there are no signs of any considerable changes since then. These diamonds have been smuggled to neighboring countries mixing with diamonds from other nations and basically causing a situation where conflict diamonds are traded worldwide.

Hence, it is up to the jewelry retailers to be responsible enough to make sure that they do not vend such conflict diamonds to their jewelry consumers. As diamond consumers are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about conflict diamonds and requesting certifications as to the origin of their diamonds, it was only a matter of time before Zimbabwean diamonds became too risky to be associated with.

The problem is that generally speaking, jewelry providers can’t just boycott their diamond jewelry items, but then again, nobody wants to be linked to conflict diamonds either. It looks like we’ll just have to wait and see how the major members of the diamond jewelry community intend to comply with the demands of the Human Rights Watch.

Fdi Proposal For Indian Airline Industry Now On Hold

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A proposal made by the civil aviation ministry that would have allowed foreign carriers to buy a 25 percent stake in Indias local carriers have been put on hold due to security concerns.

The proposal was made to give local carriers access to foreign funding after severe losses in the industry. Currently, foreign carriers are not allowed to directly or indirectly hold equity in local airlines although other foreign investors are allowed to own up to 49 percent in Indian carriers.

Moreover, foreign direct investment from helicopter operators and ground-handling companies in local companies are allowed. Because of the turmoil in the aviation sector, an early decision on allowing foreign carriers to invest in domestic airlines is not expected. There are various pros and cons of the decision and they have to be taken into account before taking a call, a senior civil aviation ministry official told The Economic Times.

He added: For certain reasons, the airline industry is considered a sensitive sector and any decision has to be taken with security in mind. The domestic airline industry has struggled for the past year because of weak demand, high fuel prices and irrational pricing.

According to The Economic Times, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya has been lobbying for foreign carriers to invest in local airlines while Indias although Jet Airways has been against the move.

The Growing Industry Of Barbecue Sauce

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Have you noticed lately when you go to the grocery store that the section for barbecue sauce is expanding? What used to be a market for only a few different brand names of virtually the same basic tomato based sauce is now a wide selection of sauces made by both big corporations like Kraft or Bulls Eye, to smaller companies who are only focused on their specialty sauces. From the Chicago based Sweet Baby Ray’s, to the North Carolina style Scott’s, they are all out there somewhere to be purchased. Some are nationally sold, others regionally, but with the ability to now purchase nearly anything via the Internet, you can even buy local sauces made in the Carolinas, Texas, or Kansas City. Don’t forget Memphis too.

Barbecue sauce has nearly surpassed all condiments in total sales, and increases as new products keep emerging. It seems once one brand adds a specific flavor, like a hot variety of sauce for example, then every other manufacturer follows suit. When a trend takes off within a specific market, it does not take long now in our automated world for the word to get out. Production seems to start instantly on new lines of products in all things, and barbecue sauce and its market is no different.

This up trend in the barbecue sauce industry has opened the door for any new upstarts to fight their way into the market. If you are a master griller who has come up with your own fantastic sauce recipe, it might be the time to begin bottling it and selling it. Another way to get your name out there is to enter some cooking contests with your sauce, and a few good showings or victories at these events will get your name out there as well. So don’t underestimate your culinary skills and don’t be afraid to put your sauce on the map.

More and more in every industry single individuals are making their products known to the world and selling them with success. The barbecue sauce industry is booming in this way, often through restaurant owners bottling and marketing their secret sauce to the public through their establishment as well as to local markets and on the Internet. Local sauces that were once unknown to the world are being presented to a much bigger market now with so many avenues of advertising available today.

How To Reduce Product Defects In The Interlining Industry

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For any manufacturer, the most important goal is to reduce product defects, and thus improve profitability. There are lots of ways to achieve this goal, however, the methods are supposed to come from the specific industry itself. You may apply quality control process or Six Sigma to reduce defects. However, the product defects will not be eliminated no matter which process improvement strategy is utilized. You may be infinitely close to 100% defect free for the interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining, but most probably you will never achieve the goal of 0% of product defects rate. With the improvement on reducing product defects, an interlining manufacturer may gain auxiliary benefits, such as lowering costs and increasing productivity, which finally turn into saving money in the business.

Reducing product defects for interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining is not the sole task for the managerial team in the company, but it is a collaboration of each individual in the organization. The involvement of the employees, especially those on the production line is the key to the success of reducing product defects. You will be open-minded when you have your staff directly involved. Indeed, with the contribution made by the employees, fewer errors and mistakes will happen during the production cycle, which in turn results in lowering the product defects.

The primary thing is to identify the changes we want to make, after you decide to reduce the defect rate for interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining. You can start with asking the employees in the company for what the problems are. You should also spend time on viewing the issue from every angle with the ideas got from the employees. This approach is insightful since the employees are in the manufacturing cycle with the interlining products, and may have ideas that the administrative staff have never come across. When implementing reducing product defects, the leader should bear in mind the basic principle of cost effectiveness. In other words, measures and actions should be taken under the full use of available resources. No matter which process improvement strategies you are applying, you may consider hiring professionals from consulting company that utilize Six Sigma. These professionals will help you identify the changes that need to be made.

Once you have target the changes need to be made, the subsequent step is to analyze the approach to the changes. At this stage, you should form a team to analyze how to deal with the changes. Documenting the measures or steps is essential to the success of reducing product defects. When analyzing the approach to the changes, the team should spend time on listing all the possibilities and have a comprehensive check on the running machine. It is also pointed out that the team should take the time to check whether the machines to produce interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining are on correct status, which is a crucial step in the process improvement strategy. Defects will be cut back and money will be saved if the machines are running at a correct status. If appropriate information on the machines is available, you will know how to adjust the change to benefit the company most, and thus reduce product defects.

After the implementation on the changes, a review process is needed to evaluate the outcome. You should constantly review the outcomes to ensure whether they are beneficial at all. You should always talk with the employees on the production line. They operate or monitor the machines every day, and get the firsthand results on the outcome of interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining. Indeed, employees will be able to provide useful ideas and suggestions to further improve the situation on the production line. If the company is looking for continuous effects on reducing the product defects, you can simply start from the identifying procedure and focus on the implementation of another change.

Remember when you are striving for reducing product defects in a business, your base line is that your company is saving money. The efforts on reducing product defects may become meaningless if the cost on interlining products like woven interlining, non-woven interlining and fusible interlining increases. On the contrary, the more money you save, the more benefits your company will receive.

With your efforts to reducing product defects by the changes, you may start to set a new goal to avoid making the same errors in the future. This is the direction to be infinitely close to 100% defect free. However, the set goal must be realistic, and all staff in the company should be involved. Under the current fierce competition in the interlining industry, reducing product defects should be a continuing strategic planning to save the business money, and improve the productivity.