Most manufacturers focus on growth, like other businesses, they believe ‘bigger is better’. However there’s an advantage to consolidating rather than expanding – and that certainly has been the case with JPN Inter (2016) Co., Ltd.
This mill is specialist in shirting fabrics, with capability of making bottom weights as well.
In recent years the company downsized its capacity by about 60 percent, choosing to move away from big volume, price sensitive orders and building its strength as an ideal supplier for mid-tier brands that require very flexible and reliable production.
Currently, JPN has a capacity of about 5 million yards per year.
Fast & Flexible
In a challenging market being agile often is the key to survival – for both suppliers and brands.
JPN offers flexibility based on its ability to do both yarn dye and piece dye fabrics. It also has the advantage of being able to source its yarn domestically, something that resulted in important savings on shipping costs and faster and more reliable delivery of raw materials.
What really makes JPN stand out from its competitors is that it can accept any order – regardless of how small.
“We can make any new development that our customers request and with very low minimum orders. Our flexibility comes from our investment in lapping machines. Right now, 90 percent of the weaving machines in our factory are lapping machines and they can be set to work with many different kinds of materials – even very sensitive materials like linen. We’re making Dobby, piece dyed and yarn dyed fabrics,” said Teeraparp Eowpittayakul.
“When a customer wants to start a new item, we can start by using our computer handloom. We are able to quickly make some samples for them to select. We can also use those looms to make small lots or salesman’s samples.”
JPN is growing its business with the Japanese market, a market that demands very high standards. Its ability to meet those requirements is an indication of the mill’s capabilities.
Trading Volume for Quality
Thailand is no longer a low cost producer and local mills have adapted to a new role as suppliers of higher quality products.
“Our flexibility comes from our investment in lapping machines.”
“We have lost some of the more basic items to other countries. Now we focus on the mid-sized orders that are more complex and higher quality. The price is higher, but the customer has the advantage of having a lot of flexibility.
“That’s important because many brands are not sure of what they need. They hesitate to place large orders. We can provide them with the flexibility they want, but of course the price won’t be the same as for big volume orders,” said Mr. Eowpittayakul.
A Foundation Built on Quality Materials
“We need yarn that is contamination-free. From medium yarn count to fine yarn count, the U.S. cotton can cover this. We look to the list of U.S. cotton yarn suppliers provided by Cotton Council International because we can trust the quality of the materials they offer.
“We can’t test every cone of yarn ourselves, so we choose suppliers who are Cotton USA™ licensees because we believe their quality is good.”
JPN recently joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® (the Trust Protocol) because they recognize that brands now need certification to prove that their supply chains are transparent.
“We always declare what materials we use to our customers. So we choose yarns made from U.S. cotton and we support this by being a Trust Protocol member,” said Mr. Eowpittayakul.
Email. jpn@jongpattana.com | website: jongpattana.com
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
