Departing from the unwritten rule of not sharing information even among peers engaged in similar business, this group of young like-minded textile entrepreneurs use WhatsApp extensively for exchange of information.

They have mooted the so-called Texpreneurs Forum, comprising broadly of second generation entrepreneurs in the textile business. And the group is no longer averse to discussing company-related issues, which their forefathers or elders never indulged in, even as recent as just over a year ago.

“They were apprehensive about the competition from within. Our generation perceive this differently. Our endeavour is to take this industry to much greater heights. And in this journey, we realise that we are not in competition with the mills located in this region but against those in other States and competing countries,” avers D Prabhu, Secretary, Texpreneurs Forum.

The Forum’s membership has reached 170 within 15 months.

And the group seem to be comfortably exchanging a gamut of information including the price at which a member of the group sold some waste material in his mill or availability of high-priced key spares in some other unit to financial performance.

According to Prabhu, each group, comprising of 20 members, exchange as many as 10 to 12 messages every day and the enthusiasm to discuss and debate on some of the issues is evident.

“The members’ confidence levels have improved. We are more open to sharing our views and taking advice from others; are able to understand our strength and weakness and not worried about highlighting the emerging trends.”

“Our focus is on manufacturing excellence and product innovation.

“And the forum serves as a platform for the industry’s best practices and encourages replication and horizontal deployment of such practices in the overall interest of the industry,” he told BusinessLine .

The forum is now preparing to regain the past glory of this region, once considered the Manchester of South India.

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