The Hindu Business Line : Woolmark to focus on marketing, structural skill

AS India is fast becoming one of the world's major sources of woollen textiles such as knitwear, woven apparels, home furnishing, carpets and yarn, Woolmark Company is all set to focus its attention on extending support to marketing and structural skill through its quality sourcing services, according to the new Managing Director, Mr L. Peter Wilkinson.

The Melbourne-based Woolmark Company, formerly known as the International Wool Secretariat (IWC), has been assisting India's wool sector through technical support and product diversification over the years and Mr Wilkinson, took his time off to visit India as his first major trip outside region.

In an interview to Business Line at the company's regional office, Mr Wilkinson said his company's mission has been to deliver excellence in wool through brand-led quality standards, product innovation and specialist services that enhance consumer affinity to wool, textile pipeline efficiency and shareholder value.

"I see the continued development of India and China as the major thrust of the extraordinary past 10 years. This is where we see so much of the production side building up... and there is nothing to stop that," Mr Wilkinson said.

As an organisation, he said, Woolmark Company would be giving greater support to the farmer to handle the local market. Over time, if the Indian wool industry wants to upgrade, it needs to go fast on the production side and adopt technologies that boost on-farm productivity. India needs to do a couple of things to move in the value chain and to market their products.

"I have a strong sense of commitment to the long term because it is not something that happens overnight. When I look back, it took decades for Australia" to emerge as a wool trade hub, Mr Wilkinson said.

Asked about the prospects of wool-blended fabric, he said, "there is a lot of things that wool can be useful and not just in apparel. On the apparel side, we look at the composition and the easy feel and fit and the balance of cost weighs with wool.''

He said Woolmark Company's objective is to be "a key player in taking wool from the farm gates and the farmer and to the final producer and getting investment, employment and foreign exchange" than cribbing about the climate that is not suitable for finest wool making in India.

As the India branch of the Woolmark Company is experimenting with Cashmere wool and blends, the idea is to focus on this for process and product developments in an aggressive way, he added.

Pointing out that quality needs to be focused properly, Mr Wilkinson stressed on skill-base and the more we build strong solid skills, the better it would be for the industry. ``I don't think there is much that needs to be done here. You have got skill, considerable investment and some degree in the forefront of technology. It is where our organisation comes into play. It is a process that can be developed and I get involved by keeping machinery in place, distribution in place and production in place and that is one modest way of doing it. So not just to rely on what is already existing there but to stay at the front-end of technology because a spate of innovations are coming into the industry.''

He said that he would be visiting Ludhiana where the India Chapter of the Woolmark Company has set up a Club where the key producers of wool and woollen products would all assemble and he is looking forward to interacting them.

"I want to be sure that we are pushing and giving support to the Indian wool industry. There is a small side to the new fabric that we are looking at here. We need to make a decision on how substantial our support is going to be.''