Adopts best social & sustainable standards in manufacturing
Tamil Nadu’s tryst with the textile industry is something that is well-documented. A drive around the Madurai- Rajapalayam region will bear testimony to this fact. It’s as if each of the textile mills in the region has a story to tell. One of the most compelling of them is that of Paramount Textile Mills (P) Ltd., which has firmly stamped its mark on the region’s rich textile legacy. From humble beginnings the company has now grown to a stage where it is catering to several premium global home textile brands. In an exclusive chat with the Textile Magazine, Ram M, Managing Director, Paramount Textile Mills (P) Ltd, provides detailed insights into the company’s history, its product line, growth story and future plans.
We are living in a day and age when women empowerment and stories of women entrepreneurs regularly make it to the front pages of leading newspapers. The story of Paramount Textile Mills is in a way a precursor to many of these stories. It is the story of a 25-year-old woman starting a small textile unit and winning against all odds.
“Paramount Textile Mills was started by my mother, Lakshmi M, in 1979. We had very humble beginnings. Although our forefathers were literally textile kings, we didn’t have the good fortune to inherit anything from them. My mother started a weaving unit with 75 shuttle and 25 plain looms,” recalls Ram M, Director (Marketing and Finance), Paramount Textile Mills. Elaborating on the trigger that led to his mother starting the business, Ram says, “Being born in a family of textile barons, she had this passion to do something in the field. She just could not digest the fact that she had to be only a homemaker.”
Remember, those were conservative times. My mother had to fight hard as it was difficult getting soft & talented workforce. Also, it was a place where female infanticide was an issue at that point in time. There was no question of someone accepting a woman entrepreneur. She had to send teams to visit neighbouring villages to persuade people, particularly womenfolk, to work in the mill. It took some time for the tide to turn over. Although a literature student and someone who was passionate about fine arts, she did this more out of compulsion,” Ram informs.
And so, at the young age of 25 and with an initial investment of around Re 10 lakhs & a small seed capital from within the family, she set up a textile unit. “Till about 1997 we were doing a lot of job work. This meant that we lost out on a phase of textile upsurge between 1987 and 1992 and also at a time when India’s post liberalization of opening the boundaries augmenting well for foreign exchange earnings. India’s textile exports had peaked at that time. It was around 1997-98 that we started exporting but were still handicapped with outdated technology. It was around early 2000’s that we started upgrading our machinery. The growth during the early years was very slow. Also, my mother had to balance both the house and the mill,” Ram states.
Reluctant Entry
It was in 2004 that Ram joined the business. A banker, he had all his education in International Banking & Finance in the UK. He also had a couple of stints with a leading investment bank and managing investments of a company in the UK. So how come he forayed into textiles? “Initially I was not too passionate about getting into the textile industry. I actually wanted to start a bank and get into banking. You can say I was a reluctant joiner. But once I gained some experience, I started enjoying my work,” Ram says. At that point, the company was hardly making about 2.5 lakh metres of fabrics a month. “We were exporting only to one destination, Israel. It was around 2006 that we began participating in a lot of international trade fairs. I would say that this was the turning point.
There was no looking back after that. “We have won TEXPROCIL export awards for cotton fabrics for 11 years now. We have also been presented 5 special achievement awards for cotton fabrics in a row,” Ram informs. Product differentiation was what was behind the spike in business. “While we were making only grey fabrics in 2005, we slowly moved into new products with alternative to cotton fibres and move away from conventional categories and markets. Certifications were very new to the Indian market then. We were among the first to enrol for an organic certification called SKAL, Netherlands as early as 2005. The premium to sell this organic fabric was very high because at that time the market was very small for these kinds of special fabrics and also considered a niche,” he elaborates.
“We were among the few to sell certified long staple cotton fabrics on super fine counts etc during the early 2000’s. We exported our products to Japan and Switzerland. These initiatives gave us a huge edge over others,” Ram adds. While all this growth was taking place, the company was also investing in the latest technology. “We modernised and got the latest Japanese high-capacity looms. In 2012 our technical textiles division was established. So, now we work on three different domains – fabrics, technical textiles and home textiles,” Ram informs.
Manufacturing Infrastructure
Elaborating about the present manufacturing capacity of Paramount Textile Mills, Ram says that it is 7.8 lakh metres per month for fabrics and about 100,000 metres per year of technical textiles. Besides the company contracts basic cotton fabrics from its trusted vendors for the run of mill varieties that it finds value in sourcing. “While it might be small in quantity, you need to look at the kind of value-additions that we make. We offer fabrics with counts as high as 2/340, which is a very fine count. This is exported to Switzerland, Italy and Japan. To put it in a nutshell, Paramount Textile Mills is more about class than mass,” he adds. “A Vertical weaving mill also has a facility to take care of embroidery, washing and then cut & sew. Basically it is a fully integrated weaving facility to cut & sew,” Ram informs. The company houses the best in class technologies imported from Japan, Italy, Switzerland & USA. Special machines that are reinforced to weave specialty fabrics from very coarse to ultra-super fine, very dense fabrics etc. The investments into Quilting & wading plants, thermal bonding & coating machines takes care of applying special resin bonds for multiple layer fabrics to add value on the fabrics we make.
Fabric Product Range
The company makes wide-width fabrics for Home Textiles as well as narrow-width ones for apparels and fashion labels. “We are nominated by many labels. While we do sheeting, a lot of our business also comes from supplying fabrics for nominated vendors & apparel buying houses for shirting, high street fashion, etc. We work with clients like Zara, Prada, Hugo Boss, Armani, Diesel, Polo & a host of others where brands nominate us for fabrics. Meanwhile, the company’s sustainability focus has been one of the reasons behind it getting the preferred vendor tag from some of the top labels in business.
Elaborating, Ram says, “We have zero carbon footprint. The reason is that almost the entire energy that we use is either solar or wind-powered. We have a captive solar plant inside the factory. It takes care of about 65% of our energy needs. We also have wind mills that constitute the balance. We have an excellent ZLD and ETP as part of our preparatory process to re-use and dispose water in the most conscious way. We also have a cow farm, from where we produce biogas which is used in our canteen. Basically, you can say we are zero remitters of waste.” While the company predominantly produces cotton-based fabrics, it is cotton of the higher end. “As a policy we don’t do much on manmade fibres. Up to 60% of the produce is for sheeting and 40% is for apparels. We also do some sourcing for our basic sheeting business,” Ram informs. About 94% of its products are for exports. Our presence in the domestic market is negligible but for our nomination business. We see that there is a lot of future growth that is potentially here in the local market. However the market is still price sensitive and might take about 3-5 years to mature and seek the luxury product lines that we offer.
“We would like to gear up our domestic presence, which is what we are working on right now,” he reveals while attributing the growing preference for the company’s products in the overseas market to a few key factors. “Things such as our low carbon footprint, consistency and transparency have been the primary drivers. The “C-TRACE” app that paramount textiles developed help gain transparency of our sheets through an established supply chain visibility including a geographical coordinate of the farm from where the cotton employed for the sheet is used. We allow labels to visit our factory for audits to study our capacities, machineries, facilities, delivery time, etc. Up to 98.7% of the company’s deliveries are on time. That is something very rare in the textile industry and particularly in the Indian context,” Ram states. We have built all our export business on trust. Most of the brands now we work with, have been our customers for over 15 years and they know every corner of the mill. They are a part of us and it is with this trust that we continue to build private label partnerships on linens.
Concierge Home Textiles
The company has also carved a niche for itself through its bespoke home textile products. Going into details about the same, Ram says, “We do a lot of concierge products. For example, there is a luxury cruise liner and the customer says that he wants about 40 guestrooms in it to be dressed with concierge home textiles. He would then work with a designer. The designer comes back to us and outlines his requirements. While a lot of Indian manufacturers may be adept at handling large volumes, they are not equipped when it comes to handling such volumes of concierge home textiles. Going forward I feel that concierge services has huge growth potential and an area we are constantly strengthening ourselves in.”
The company similarly also focuses on concierge fabric sales too. Elaborating on how the division works, Ram explains, “Assume there is a customer in the Middle East who wants about 100 yards of pristine white fabric for a royal family function. We cater to such customised requirements. This is a business that we have developed and are confident of growing further in the near future.” The company has an exclusive design department, apart from also working with other designers in the west through catalogues. “We also buy designs from Europe. Most designs are provided by the labels. The rest we develop and send to the customers,” Ram says, adding that the company also has exclusive research and development department for fabric and made-ups apart from a very well-established chain of spinners to source raw materials for some of its high end products. The company employs “SUVIN” most effectively. The use of this very high quality cotton yarn along with GIZA 45, Sea-Island etc are employed to create exclusive linens to luxury retail labels and private residences that demand nothing but the best.
Technical Textiles
Paramount Textile Mills has also been an early mover in the field of technical textiles. Ram feels that there is huge potential for India in this particular line. “It is a field that is growing. We make only fabrics. We don’t do any garments in technical textiles. We work with an Italian partner and sell special fabrics for defence applications. We also do lot of fabrics with high tenacity in the weft for parachute applications. With initiatives like the National Mission for Technical Textiles, I am sure that it will help us grow in the near future,” he says. Looking back at the company’s journey over the years, he adds, “It has been amazing. We have been able to travel across different product categories. We are happy with our achievements but have a long way to go. We are in the process of setting up another plant about 20 miles from the existing facility located in Madurai. It may be up and running by September 2020 & will exclusively further focus on niche and high end luxury products including some of functional applications for home textiles and specifically focus on high bred coating & bonding applications with patent processes”.
Top Advantages
When asked to name a few key USPs offered by Paramount Textile Mills, Ram picks out product quality and differentiation with sustainability. “We have always set high quality standards. Plus, we have always created that difference. For example, apart from cotton, we were one of the first in the country to offer bamboo bedding way back in 2005. We worked on a Vitamin E finish for bedding in 2007. We are now working on bedding with seaweed fibre composition. We have always leaped ahead and experimented with new age fibres and finishes, sometimes we fail, but our failures give a strong path to succeed in the new roads we find ourselves in. At the end, if your success rates are higher than failure and you establish a green line, you have done well I think.”
Future Plans
Revealing his plans for the company’s next step of progress, Ram says, “Apart from the new plant, branding is another thing on our mind. The Indian market has huge potential. In a couple of years’ time we would be looking at a brand for the Indian market. The recent past has been a challenging time for the textile industry. The corona virus outbreak seems to have further added to the prevailing sense of uncertainty. However, we choose to look at the positive side of the impact. I am sure that we will soon be able to overcome the short comings of the spread of the virus.”
“We also see it as a trigger for increase in demand for cleaner bed-sheets from the hygiene point of view. There is also a strong possibility of demand for medical textiles picking up,” he adds. Meanwhile, does he feel that the crisis in China spells an opportunity for India? “Yes, there has been a definite spike in business in the recent past. This was expected even before the corona virus outbreak because people are always looking for a secondary market. The global export market is huge and India has only tapped a very small percentage. We could easily grow our exports in textiles by five times in the next ten years. While I am one of those optimistic about the textile revenues surging as multiple opportunities knock at the Indian doors. We can surely see a lot of FDI in textiles into India.”
Beyond Business
There’s more to life than just textiles for this dynamic entrepreneur. A writer, blogger, a keen gardener, a Koi Hobbyist, wildlife enthusiast, trekker and a poet, Ram dons many hats. “I am a typical Monday to Friday person. I feel there is more to life than just textiles. I write a lot of blogs on banking, financial markets, derivatives, etc. I would love my weekends turning to my hobbies and getting back to pen my thoughts.