Fong’s is a trusted name in the Indian market. The company has been operating in India for over 20 years and is the undisputed leader in dyeing machines. Jointly with its partner A.T.E. it has established a very strong presence across India, working very closely with the customers. One man who has been instrumental for much of this growth over the last two decades is Mr. Walter Leung, Sales Director of the company. He has been personally engaged with the Indian market for the last 15 years and was instrumental in setting up this successful partnership with A.T.E.
One of the important steps taken by Fong’s which has contributed significantly to its success in India has been the setting up of its service entity, Fong’s Technical Services Pvt. Ltd. This 25-member strong team was set up nearly 12 years ago with a single-minded focus to provide aftersales service and spares support to Indian customers. This reinforced Fong’s commitment to the Indian market, and boosted the confidence of its customers on the company. Today, the Fong’s Indian service team plays a critical role not just in India but caters to the requirements of customers across other neighboring markets as well.
We recently had a chat with Mr. Walter Leung on the company’s success story in India and future growth plans. He stated that 2018 has been a very good year for the company. “We did record business in India. We were lucky to get a big project from Sintex, which added to the business momentum. Globally too we did well in markets like Bangladesh and Vietnam. In China too we did well, although there was a small lull period during the beginning of the year due to the trade issue – 2018 overall was definitely better than 2017 for us”, he said.
At its headquarters in China, Fong’s Group is setting up a new production plant at Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, which is almost nearing completion. It is expected that the relocation of production lines to the new Zhongshan plant will be completed this year. Upon full operation of the new plant, the Group’s production capacity is expected to increase significantly. The new Zhongshan plant will be keen on improving energy conservation and production efficiency, as well as applying more automated processes in its production process. It is expected that the production cycle will be shortened and the manpower and management cost will be reduced such that the Group’s operation efficiency will be improved.
Listing down the key reasons for the growth momentum in the Indian market, Mr. Leung explained: “The first and foremost, the Indian market is picking up, the economy is doing well. As everybody knows that there are a lot of policy initiatives that are driving forward the growth of the textile industry here. Secondly, Fong’s is an established name in the Indian market with its exclusive Fong’s Technical Services Pvt. Ltd. (FTS) which reinforces our commitment to timely aftersales service in the Indian market. Customers feel comfortable handing their projects to us. They feel they are in safe hands. Our endeavor is to give them the right machine at the right price. All these factors have led us to doing record sales in the Indian market in 2018.”
Fong’s – A.T.E. success story
The Fong’s – A.T.E. relationship has grown stronger over the years. Mr. Leung felt that A.T.E. has played a vital role in the Fong’s growth story in India. Elaborating on the winning combination, he said: “A.T.E. has an excellent network around India. We are therefore able to market our product to every nook and corner. For example, last year one of the better regions for Fong’s was the Kolkata region, which is not usually associated strongly with textiles. Now we did well in the region, only because of A.T.E. which has got a good team there.”
The two had celebrated their 10th year together at last year’s ITMA Asia event in Shanghai. “Both the companies are happy to work with each other. We are both similar in terms of size, culture and mindset. We work really well together,” Mr. Leung pointed out.
According to Mr. Leung the company has completed around 3,000 installations in the Indian market. “The Indian market has been very good for us. I have been with Fong’s for 20 years now. I have been associated with the Indian market for 15 years now. In fact, A.T.E. was actually appointed by me. We have been able to satisfy the customer and that’s why the success,” Mr. Leung observed.
Asked to list down three key reasons for the sustained growth of the company, Mr. Leung said: “The first reason is that our technology is most up to date. By choosing us, customers won’t stay behind. Number two is quality assurance. Remember, this has been the reason why we are counted among the largest dyeing machine suppliers. Thirdly, we are seriously committed to the Indian market. Our FTS is a testimony to that”.
Going further into details of FTS, Mr. Leung said: “While A.T.E. takes care of the sales and marketing of our products in the Indian market, the rest, i.e., erection, supervision, conditioning, service and supply of spareparts, if all done by FTS. It is a 25-member team that is spread across India.”
Knit Tech participation
Fong’s along with A.T.E., displayed its TECWIN high temperature dyeing machine at Knit Tech 2019 held in Tirupur. Incidentally, the product will also be part of its line-up at ITMA 2019 Barcelona. Going into the company’s participation in Knit Tech 2019, Mr. Leung said that Fong’s is participating in the event after a gap of 7 years. “The reason we are here is for showcasing our TECWIN dyeing machine. Basically, this is the latest machine from the Fong’s brand. This is an excellent product for the Tirupur market”.
He added: “We had displayed this machine at ITMA Asia in Shanghai last year. We have also displayed it in Bangladesh. We have now come to Knit Tech in Tirupur.”
Globally, Fong’s is all geared up for the forthcoming ITMA 2019 event to be held at Barcelona. “Our TECWIN dyeing machine will be presented at the show. We are also planning to display some more products related to latest trends in dye house automation at the exhibition. The reason being there is heavy demand for such products in China now”.
Speaking about Bangladesh which is one of the most important global markets for Fong’s, Mr. Walter Leung sounded very optimistic. Fong’s works with one of the leading and most established agents in Bangladesh, Pacific Associates. “If you are talking about knits, Bangladesh is a much bigger market than India. However, for wovens it is a very small market. With a stable political environment and with probably the best associate in the country, we are positive about our growth there too,” he remarked, rounding off the interaction.
Mr. S. Rajendran, Senior Vice President – Processing, Accessories and After Sales Services, A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd., states: “During 2007, we started preparing a blueprint for making the processing division as a single stop solution provider for the processing industry in India. We had many product gaps especially we did not have machines for processing knit fabrics. It was a strategic decision to tie-up with Fong’s mainly to penetrate into the knit segment. A.T.E. and Fong’s started working together during the year 2008, and now, we have successfully completed 10 years. Our tie-up created an excitement in the Indian market, and many of our end-users expressed their comfort in dealing with us. With our rich experience of handling business in India, we developed many new markets like Kolkata, Surat, Karur, etc… where Fong’s did not have much business in the past. While we are holding the highest market share in the case of package dyeing business, we have well established the business of Fong’s softflow dyeing machines in India. We have executed many projects of package dyeing and knit processing, and the end-users are very happy with our execution and support. The new version of the TECWIN softflow dyeing machine has been well designed to give comfort to the dyers. We have already created good references in India. Subsequent to our tie-up with Fong’s, we also tied up with all the companies of Fong’s Group, like Goller, MonFong’s and Monforts. Now, A.T.E. can offer a package of machinery for processing woven/knit fabrics, denim, silk, terry towles and technical textiles. We enjoy a healthy relationship with the Fong’s Group and we are confident of achieving much more success in the coming years”.
By M.K. Prabhakar & K. Gopalakrishnan