Pakistan is the leading manufacturer of textile finish goods and 8th largest exporters of textile products like garments, hosiery, home textile, denim, yarn etc. this sector contribute 8.5% to GDP of Pakistan, and through this sector around 45% of labor involve directly or indirectly with this industry. Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of cotton with the third largest spinning facility. Though we can say that this is main commodity of Pakistan which contributes for both GDP growth and employment opportunities for the locals.
In the current era of modernization and new innovations in textile technologies, many organizations are adopting these technologies to compete. Gone are the days of using papers and files for maintaining records, the current state of the art ERP systems have not only eliminated use of paper but have also enhanced management of the resources. Technologies such as RFID tracking systems, have contributed in reducing the overall time of production. All these new gadgets and software with their sophisticated interfaces not only minimize the human interaction but also help in creating an agile manufacturing system thus automatically decreasing the lead time.
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the corresponding set of procedures to design and implement all steps in the global network used to attain raw materials from different suppliers, transform them into finished goods, and deliver both goods and services to customers. It includes both up stream and down stream flow of information and material.
Textile sector in Pakistan will have to take one step forward to get aware of the new global market competition and create both effectual and receptive supply chains to meet new business challenges. Organizations who desire to become more successful in this sector have rapidly transformed their strategies accordingly and have installed latest machinery, developed and acquired information technology to align with the setup that can flawlessly integrate with the global customer’s requirements. But in Pakistan this revolution is slow paced and far from satisfactory. It is important to evaluate where we stand and what major steps we need to take regarding the better performance in current supply chain practices. The industry should identify the performance parameters that would determine the future success and ensure to capture a significant market share for Pakistan's textiles and garments sector.
The concept of supply chain management in Pakistan’s textile industry, is nascent. The current understanding of supply is limited to only purchasing and delivery while the process time and lead time is not being accounted. In order to change the perception we have to work on people and organization structure to develop a proper supply chain concepts that will make us prominent in the global textile competition otherwise we couldn’t compete in future as the world is changing rapidly.
Pakistan textile industry should focus on Supply Chain Management to enhance competitiveness in the global market place as in the current situation majority of brands are working on supply chain patterns so we need to adopt and implement to boost current Pakistani textile industry.