World's first integrated textile company to be certified by Oeko-Tex
Toray Malaysia Group's traditional business in textile is conducted at
the four mills under Pentafabric, a vertically integrated textile manufacturer supplying
customised finished fabrics to top apparel manufacturers worldwide. In an
interview with Fibre2Fashion, Josephine Teoh, Sales Director of
Penfabric, speaks at length about the history of Pentafabrics and the various sustainability
initiatives it has been taking through the years.
What is the history of Penfabric? How did it got associated with the Toray group? Is it managed by the Toray group or has a separate structure in place altogether?
Penfabric was incorporated in 1973 as Nan Sing Dyeing Works (Malaysia) Sdn Berhad as a joint venture between Toray Industries, Inc, Japan (Toray) and Textile Alliance Limited of Hong Kong. In 1979, the company's name was changed to Penfabric Sdn Berhad and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Toray in 1983.
Locally, Penfabric is supervised by Toray's regional supervisory company, Toray Industries (Malaysia) Sdn Berhad, and reports directly to the Fibre and Textile Division in Toray Japan.
Globally, there is more focus on sustainability today. What are your commitments towards sustainability and reducing carbon footprints?
(1) In 2015, Penfabric became the world's first integrated textile company undertaking yarn spinning, greige weaving to dyeing and finishing, to be awarded the STeP by Oeko-Tex certification for sustainable textile production by the international association for research and testing in the field of textile ecology (Oeko-Tex) with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. With this our fabric carries the 'Make In Green' label.
(2) Using Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Cogeneration System since 2017 and further enhancement of manufacturing processes, Penfabric has reduced its CO2 discharge emission by 11,774 mtCo2/yr.
(68,114 mtCo2 (2013) minus 56,340 mtCo2 (2017:After COGEN) = 11,774 mt Co2/year
(3) As a result of 5Rs water conservation activities, Penfabric managed to reduce its water consumption by 50 per cent as compared to 2013:
- Optimising bath volumes, showering rates, machine speeds to reduce wastage (Reduce).
- Counter flow system is used extensively for washing at pre-treatment, dyeing and printing (Reuse).
- Steam condensates are returned to boilers for steam generation (Recycle).
- Combination of processes to minimise utility usage (Replace).
- Process Innovation- Continual improvement on quality through intra-section and cross function quality improvement teams to minimise reworks (Rethink).
Further savings in water usage of 360,000 cube metre per annum is expected after installation of new wastewater recycling facility using the latest membrane technology from Toray.
(4) Renewable energy: Penfabric generates 2,279 MW of electricity through solar panels.
(5) Use of polyester staple fibres made of sustainable raw materials like organic cotton and recycled PET bottles.
(6) 5R concept of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replace and Rethink in waste reduction throughout the manufacturing process, e.g PVA recovery, caustic soda recovery, collaboration with university to reduce wastewater colour, etc.
(7) On-going zero paper project since 2013, have lowered paper consumption by more than 50 per cent.
(8) Planted 1,000 trees within our premises and installed solar-powered streetlights.
(9) Pioneer partner of Penang State Government's Waste Segregation At Source Project (Factory Category).
(10) Certified as a Penang Green Office by the Penang Green Council (PGC), in recognition of our adoption of PGC's Green Office Concept through education and implementation of green initiatives in the office.
(11) In recognition of our voluntary initiative to quantify and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Penfabric was honoured as a MyCarbon Award recipient under a programme organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment Malaysia in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
How do you want to expand your business in the coming days? Are there any tie-ups happening? Or addition of production capacities?
We are moving towards higher valued merchandise i.e outerwear, sportswear and non-apparel usage by lamination. We have our own investment to cater to these initiatives.
What are the different industries and specialised applications your textile products cater to?
Our merchandises are divided into 3 main categories namely:
1) Dress shirt business mainly for North America with some leisure wear in tow.
2) Specialised workwear business catering to the European and US market.
3) Casual wear business for Far East and fashion wear for US and Europe.
Where do you source your raw materials from?
We purchase polyester staple fibres from the other Toray subsidiaries and raw cotton from US, Australia and Brazil.
What was the revenue earned by Penfabric last fiscal?
What are your expectations this fiscal?
Where are your 4 manufacturing units based at? How many people do you employ?
Two of our manufacturing facilities are based at Penang Island and the other two at Province Wellesley (Penang Mainland). Currently, we have about 1,300 employees.
What are the major concerns of buyers when it comes to sourcing fabric from you?
Quality, speciality and price with emphasis on sustainability, are the major concerns of buyers when sourcing fabric from us. Companies also want to shift their supply source to South East Asia.
What is the annual and monthly production capacity of different textile products - grey fabric, printed fabric, yarn-dyed fabric (gingham), heavy weight/ light weight fabric?
The annual and monthly production capacity of different textile products are as follows:
1) Grey fabric - 5.0 million yards
2) Printed fabric - 1.0 million yds
3) Yarn-dyed fabric - 1.5 million yards
4) Piece dye in both HW and LW combined - 8.0 million yds.
Which are your highest selling products usage and revenue wise?
Our highest selling products are workwear and leisure wear.
Who are your major competitors in the local and international market?
Chinese and Europeans are our major competitors in the local and international market.
Which are the top apparel manufacturers worldwide you supply your products to?
We supply our products to various garment cutters in Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and China who sell them to fashion brands in US/EU as well as Japan.
What is the USP of your manufactured products?
We are Oekotex 'Make In Green' certified. Due to our green and sustainable credentials, we can produce many types of functional and special innovative fabrics for specialised needs.
How are you bringing innovation to your products? What kind of research are you involved in for studying market conditions?
We have our own R&D centre and collaborate closely with Toray's R&D centres in Japan and overseas. We use the special innovative technologies of Toray and work out our own special fabrications for niche markets. We also work with chemical suppliers to explore techniques to develop innovative new products.
What is the Penfabric Aquarium all about? Give us some details about it.
It is our sanctuary for innovation, creativity and fashion to translate innovative ideas into blockbuster fabric sales, equipped with the latest IT tools and other facilities, including:
- Biometric access control system to limit access to authorised personnel only.
- RFID system for instantaneous retrieval of sample images, connected to touch screen computer providing the fabric specifications and other details like available sample lengths.
- Well-designed made-up garment displays featuring on-trend and newly developed hot-selling items.
- State-of-the-art technology with information systems integration for real-time reference.
- Archive of information on R&D, production, sales and technology centre.
- On-line enquiry of specific topics by weave, yarn-dyed design, print and others, with images displayed instantaneously on screen.
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