While most factories were targeting large orders, Erawan Textile Co., Ltd. chose to go in the opposite direction and build their business on serving the growing demand for smaller orders.
It has proven to be a good strategy since the fast fashion trend has brands wanting smaller, most customized orders. It’s also one of the reasons why Erawan’s factories are always fully booked.
Erawan, which is vertical from spinning to garment production, can take orders as small as 5,000 yards.
Historically, Thailand was a source for raw materials supplying yarn and fabric to domestic and overseas buyers.
However Erawan decided to pursue a different model.
“Our business model is based on understanding our customers’ changing requirements and adapting to them.”
“In the past, we worked with agents who represented the brands. It was very difficult for us to make a profit because the agents were between us and the customer. So we changed our model to what we call B2C – business to customer.
“We can now communicate directly with our customers. This lets us better understand what they need so we can provide them with the right services that support their brand’s objectives, rather than just cheap prices,” said Komson Supamit.
Great Service Backed by Great Quality
Erawan’s customized service is supported by its investment in using top quality materials.
“We use U.S. cotton because we can rely on its quality. The standards of this cotton and its consistency is far better than most other cotton on the market. When we test it in our lab there are no fluctuations in the measurements, it is always consistent,” said Mr. Komson.
The company feels that by using high quality cotton it is an assurance to their customers that the final product will be of top quality. It is part of the way Erawan is able to position itself in the market as a reliable supplier.
“Since we started our company, we have always used U.S. cotton. These days our customers tell us that they prefer us to use U.S. cotton because of its quality and sustainability,” he said.
Sustainability That’s Transparent
It’s no secret that sustainability and transparency standards are continuing to be raised, putting more pressure on brands.
Looking Ahead to New Market Opportunities
While Erawan’s core business is fashion it sees a lot of opportunities in industrial textiles, particularly for the medical sector. They first saw the potential in medical textiles when the pandemic hit and they shifted to this category as a way to survive since orders for garments had fallen. The company developed a product called Viral Cut, which is a fabric that can permanently resist the coronavirus as a result of a special treatment done during the finishing process. It was invented by Erawan and is patented in Thailand. “For us, the most important challenge is to always keep an open mindset so that our entire company is able to adapt to a fast changing market – whether it is in fashion, medical or other sectors,” said Mr. Komson.Email. komson.sup@erawantex.co.th | Website. www.erawantex.co.th/ | Tel. (662)183 3898-9
Certified Sustainable
The Trust Protocol is aligned with existing sustainability programs including the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. It brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to sustainable cotton production, and drives continuous improvement in six key sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy efficiency. The Trust Protocol is designed from the ground up to address the unique regulatory and larger farm growing environment in the United States.
How the Trust Protocol Works
The Protocol Consumption Management Solution (PCMS) starts at the gin when the participating producer’s cotton is ginned and each unique Permanent Bale Identification number (PBI) is attached. At this point we know the exact gin weight and can create an exact amount of Protocol Cotton Consumption Units, where one Protocol Cotton Consumption Unit is created for each kilogram of Protocol Verified Cotton. This important step provides absolute authentication of U.S. cotton origin, verifying against the USDA database.
Supply Chain Transparency
The PCMS harnesses blockchain technology through a powerful combination of the Trust Protocol platform and TextileGenesis™ system to deliver full supply chain transparency by recording and verifying the movement of U.S. cotton along the entire supply chain. This creates article-specific transparency for finished products that was not previously accessible to brands and retailers.
Trusted Third Party Certification
The Trust Protocol incorporates a comprehensive program of verification against Trust Protocol benchmarks, in the form of both second-party and independent third-party audits of grower performance through Control Union Certifications—the latter through allocated on-site visits.
Control Union Certifications has certified over 150 industry standards programs worldwide, including working as a key partner in the early development and piloting phases of Impact Claim Verification Protocol.
Learn More https://trustuscotton.org
The COTTON USA Advantage
- Family growers who are committed to working their fields sustainably and leaving them better for future generations.
- A long history of innovative harvesting and ginning technologies resulting in higher-quality cotton.
- One of the highest rates of adoption in the world for Precision Agriculture, which minimizes water and pesticide usage.
- U.S. farmers operate under voluminous, stringent, and enforceable regulations.
- A commitment to transparent partnership that is unmatched anywhere.
- One of the most comprehensive systems for monitoring and measuring all the key metrics involved in sustainability.
U.S. Cotton Facts
- 2/3 of U.S. cotton land uses only rain water
- U.S. cotton water use efficiency has improved by 79% over the past 35 years
- Cotton is carbon footprint neutral, meaning the plants remove more greenhouse gasses than production produces.
Sustainability Goals
The U.S. cotton industry is building upon the strong environmental gains already achieved over the past 35 years. The aim is to help members meet their current needs while making the world a better place for future generations.
Specific goals include:
- Reducing by 13 percent the amount of land needed to produce a pound of cotton fiber
- Reducing soil loss by 50 percent, in balance with new soil formation
- Increasing water use efficiency (more fiber per gallon) by 18 percent
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent
- Increasing soil carbon in fields by 30 percent
- Reducing energy to produce seed cotton and ginned lint by 15 percent
Learn More www.cotton.org
