Coir industry reinventing itself to fight recession and expand

Coir industry reinventing itself to fight recession and expand

Financial express : Sandip Das

Posted: Friday, Feb 19, 2010 at 2252 hrs IST

Rajendra Paniker, a small-time coir mats producer in Alappuzha district of Kerala, is new to IT environment. Yet, these days, he is putting computers and Internet to good use to expand the market for coir products in and outside the country. Paniker is also business manager of Sarvodayapuram small-scale coirmats producers' cooperative society, the 400-member body of producers of such items as area rugs, doormats, matting and carpets. Using IT tools, he has managed to double the co-op's business from Rs 65 lakh in 2006-07 to Rs 1.3 crore during the last fiscal. Thanks to training imparted by a local IT service provider Novasoft, Paniker and most of his co-op members have learnt the basics of computer use for business expansion and data storage.

Coir Floor Furnishing, a private unit, was planning to increase its production capacity and required a working capital loan from banks. The company needed specialised financial services support to approach banks for the purpose. Thanks to the support by Gopalan Nair, an Alappuzha-based coir industry expert, the company could get a loan of Rs 35 lakh.

In this recessionary time, when the coir product exports from Kerala had been hit, timely intervention by Small Industries Development Bank of India's (SIDBI) business development services (BDS) division has supported thousands of SMEs in this coir cluster in advisory services. This, in turn, has helped coir units to expand business.

P Mahadevan of Travancore Cocotuft, an exporter of coir products from Kerala, had been using IT for carrying out most back-office operations and handling customer orders. However, his business could not grow because Cocotuft did not have a presence in the Web. He had been helped by BDS to re-engineer his business processes, touching everything from how orders are managed to his staff incentive scheme. He also has an IT-related BDS provider on retainer, updating and adding to his custom-developed back-office enterprise system.

"This was despite the fact that he had been making a strong push during the last two years to develop new mat designs and get them to the market through major global trade fairs," says Pankaj Ahir, senior manager of Cluster Pulse, the company implementing BDS project on behalf of SIDBI. With the support of Cluster Pulse, Mahadevan has uploaded in the company's website all of its 4,000 odd designs so that customers from all over the world can browse the catalogue.

More than a century-old in Kerala, the : coir industry employs more than 1.5 lakh weavers and 4 lakh spinners. The industry has been going through a bit of rough patch because of the lack of modernisation and marketing effort. "As most units are small in their operation and there are no big players in coir product manufacturing, we do not have the financial capacity to invest in market expansion and branding," says MV Viswanathan, assistant general manager, Aspinwall & Co Ltd, one of the oldest industrial units now owned by the Travancore royal family.

Coir is a natural fibre extracted from the coconut husk abundantly available in the coconut-growing state of Kerala. Coir fibre is processed through a traditional retting process and from the unretted husk through a mechanical process. Kerala's coir industry dates back to the 18th century when an industrial unit for manufacturing coir products was started by an Irish-American named Jame Darragh in 1859 in Alappuzha.

The sector mainly comprises micro enterprises that are largely promoter-driven and have limited access to specialised BDS. "This tends to affect their competitiveness and also limits the growth opportunities. So, this sector needs handholding and support over an extended period by way of affordable BDS and also access to credit," KG Alai, head of project management division, SIDBI, told FE.

Alai said under the SME Financing & Development Project, a World Bank-led multi-agency effort being implemented by SIDBI, the technical assistance component of the Department for International Development envisages intervention in identified clusters through BDS. Following support from SIDBI and its associate Cluster Pulse, the coir industry, successful mainly in tapping the export market, is now looking at the domestic market in a big way. Aspinwall has recently launched the Sparsh brand of doormats exclusively targeted to the domestic market.

Geotextiles, a byproduct from coir, has, for the first time, found a new client in the sponge-iron industry in Orissa. The demand for geotextiles, currently being used for blanketing the industry's waste mounds, is growing. According to a Coir Board official, despite the problems faced by the industry, exports of coir products would be in the range of Rs 700 crore this fiscal against Rs 580 crore achieved last year. "But there is no denying that much greater government support is needed for the industry that provides livelihood to lakhs of people," he added.

The loooooooooooooongest handloom door Mat

The loooooooooooooongest door Mat

An effort to put Kerala coir on the globe through Guinness book of world records

 

 

Travancore Cocotuft (P) Ltd started in the year 2000 as a 100% EOU by Travancore Mats & Matting Co. The company flourished as a "one stop solution" for all floor covering needs. In the last 3 years of the company's life span, it has achieved 1st position in Export Performance of Coir and Coir Products and been received "Best Coir Exporter Award" consecutively for three years from the Honorable Prime Minister of India.

 

The Company has implemented a comprehensive and certified "Quality Management" & "Social  Responsibility" with ISO 9001-2008 and SA 8000-2008 certification.

 

We are excited to present the longest handloom mat in the world, measuring about :

 

Length         :  101.6mtr (333.3ft)

Width          :  1.2mtr (4ft)

Thickness   :  30mm

Weighs        :  999 kg

 

it took 111 man days over a span of 4 months on specially made coir weaving loom by 4 workers who inserted 4,70,000 coir tufts between alternate wefts of coir yarn at a  cost of around Rs. 4 lakh ( US$ 9,000 ) to complete this feat. Application has been made to the Guinness book of world record & they have acknowledged the feat.  

 

The inspiration and innovative idea of manufacturing the longest ever handloom door mat in the world came from SIDBI'S Alappuzha BDS Project implemented by Cluster Pulse. We thank them for handholding us in this feat.

 

Today coir industry is facing a number of challenges including acute scarcity of raw material. Most of the work force has migrated to the construction sector of Cochin and other emerging sectors. I took up this mission to bring the focus of the media and invite attention to the problems of this enduring Industry which has been the back bone of the economy of Cherthala and Alleppey .

 

Our mission of world's longest handloom door mat is not for any personal achievement but it is  a pride of the coir industry, pride of our NATION and to is an attempt for the honour of Kerala coir workers in the world.  

           

We will be displaying this mat to the public during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Central Coir Research Institute of India (CCRI), Kalavoor which will be inaugurated by the Honorable Minster of State Shri. Dinsha Patel, (Minister of state, Independent Charge, M.S.M.E) in the presence of Shri. G. Sudhakaran, Minister Of Coir and Co-Operation on 4th of February 2010.

 

Thanking You,

 

Sincerely,

 

P. Mahadevan

Chief Executive Officer

Travancore Cocotuft(P) Ltd

 

What SME's Should Learn From Copenhagen

What Small And Medium Businesses Should Learn From Copenhagen

21/12/09

By Sofia Sadiq, Businesslink.gov.uk

Small and medium sized businesses need to work more closely with big business to help develop a global low carbon economy - this was the messages coming out of the Business Day Summit in Copenhagen. It was run in parallel to the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference on 11 December 2009 and organised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the International Chamber of Commerce, together with the Confederation of Danish Industry.

In the packed headquarters of the Confederation of Danish Industry, businesses from all over Europe, Asia and Africa identified the need for a collaborative approach to creating a low carbon future - a future in which business helps government to build a framework for change, without excessive legislation.

Many businesses called for government to set low-carbon economy goals for the business community. Government was seen as important in shaping public policy and creating the right financial incentives for businesses to invest in cleaner technologies.

Business Day featured over 40 speakers and more than 400 participants and those present had a range of demands, from the overarching to the extremely niche. But the key issue for most was agreeing a global carbon trading policy, which President Obama is trying to push through the Senate, but developing countries have so far resisted.

While establishing a CO2 pricing regulation was a key aim of the discussions, there was also recognition of the immediate need for businesses to be more progressive and start thinking about low-carbon ways of doing businesses. One suggestion was that multinationals need to be working with SMEs more at a local level, and there needs to be greater dialogue with the public and private sectors to create new public private partnerships.

Business people present also agreed that the key to tackling ...global warming is having global commitment to solve it, and business should be at the forefront of this education. Similarly, they agreed that consumers are key in forging a greener world and that industry needs to adapt and innovate to bring greener goods to market faster and at competitive prices.

"Ultimately, Business Day agreed that all businesses, whether large or small, should be working together with government to help drive change. Businesses can take the initiative by building on their expertise to become hubs of new technology, activity and knowledge," said Sofia Sadiq, Environment & Efficiency Theme Leader at businesslink.gov.uk.

The Business Link website is supporting the Government's Act on Co2penhagen promotion, and has information and links to material at www.businesslink.gov.uk/climatechange. There is a wealth of information, advice and guidance available at www.businesslink.gov.uk/environment, including developing an environmental strategy and plan, managing waste and preventing pollution, using resources efficiently, and it there is environmental guidance per business sector. The site also has a new top ten tips section to help businesses save money and increase efficiency.

MSME Expo 2009 - India Launches the Year of the Natural Fibre

17 November 2009 

The MSME Expo-2009 organized by the Development Commissioner (MSME) at the 29th India International Trade Fair, was inaugurated by Shri Dinsha Patel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME at Pragati Maidan here today. Shri Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises was also present on the occasion.

Shri Dinsha Patel also inaugurated the Coir Board pavilion in-keeping with the International Year for Natural Fibre, the Coir Board is displaying geo textiles in its seven stalls, in addition to various other coir products.

Going around the Pavillion the Minister praised the exhibits and the work done by the clusters. He said that the need is to make special efforts to publicize the activities and schemes to create greater awareness and to reach out to the villages and bring economic prosperity and social upliftment of the rural masses.

The MSME Expo-2009 will help the SMEs to showcase their achievements in the global market. This Expo will also provide opportunities and fora for those SMEs who want to build up business linkages. The SME exhibitors gathered in New Delhi from different parts of the country have built up more than 85 stalls. The products range includes consumer electrical & electronic goods, engineering products, readymade & embroidery items, soft toys, health care, cosmetic and health products, food and allied products, carpets, shawls, home furnishings and made ups, handicrafts and decorative items, gems and jewellery, cotton and silk sarees, plastic household items, handbook printing, jute products, pressure cooker and aluminum utensils, leather bag, fancy bag, Jaipuri rajai, Kashmiri craft.

Around 100 MSME entrepreneurs displayed their products in the areas of innovation, quality and R & D. At the Expo Stalls are earmarked for women, SC/ST and entrepreneurs from North Eastern Region. The entrepreneurs are provided stall space and other facilities at subsidized rates.

Participation was invited from across the country. This year, the representation is largely from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Punjab.

The objective of the exhibition is the recognition of micro and small-scale units by showcasing the technology adopted by them in manufacturing items and also MSME EXPO is to provide a suitable platform/place at reasonable cost to micro and small scale entrepreneurs to showcase their products and technology and according generate business including export orders. The MSMEs display their innovated and qualitative products, which are widely appreciated by the visitors and buyers. They get every year million of rupees business from local as well as from overseas business houses/units. This exhibition has been widely appreciated by associations, MSMEs, NGOs and other similar organization.

Coconut makes a stylish doormat

Portland, Maine, designer Angela Adams is known for beautiful midcentury-style wool rugs and custom-tufted carpets with naturalistic floral, animal and landscape motifs. Her expensive New Zealand wool rugs are easy to clean but are unsuitable for the outdoors.

Her solution? Affordable coir doormats. Coir is a centuries-old fiber derived from the husk of coconuts that is immersed for seasoning in South Indian lagoons and sun-dried later to a rich reddish-brown color.

"Coir has a vintage quality," Adams says, recalling the ubiquitous large mats outside dime stores of yesteryear. Those thick, earthy mats of woven coir handled a lot of foot traffic and were tough enough for sun, rain, snow and mud.

While Adams admires coir's virtues, she also likes to mitigate its organic rawness with stylized beach rock and flower patterns called Munjoy and Lulu.

"It is nice to liven a natural material like this with a modern graphic stenciled-on with a water-based nonacrylic ink," Adams says. "Of course, because it is natural, the dye on my mats will fade over time, but not quickly."

"This ensures that fibers won't fall off as easily as they did in old-fashioned mats," Adams says, pointing to another practical advantage of the thinner, stronger design. "When you try to open doors, they won't get stuck on the mat."

At a glance

Expert opinion: Natural coconut husk coir fits garden settings better than plastic mats, Angela Adams says. "We are trying to find a non-PVC backing to make it fully compostable."

Pros: Because coir is a natural material, it has variations in color and texture that make each doormat seem unique. Coir is long lasting and with the backing, the factory-made mats shed fewer fibers. To clean them, all it takes is a good shaking.

Cons: The mats soak up a lot of water when they get wet and might take a day or two to dry out.

Manitoba, Canada Trade Offices Open Throughout India

September 22, 2009

Manitoba Trade Offices Open Throughout India

 

The Province of Manitoba in Canada now has an extended arm in India, centered in the entrepreneurship city of Ahmedabad! 

 

Manitoba Trade and Investment, Department of Competitiveness, Training and Trade, is pleased to announce that Global Network International has been appointed as Manitoba's Representative of Trade and Investment in India.

 

Global Network is an international trade consulting firm with head office in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and branch offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jamshedpur, Alleppey, Ichalkaranji, Surat & Rajkot. The firm has an extensive trade background, including projects for UNIDO, USAID, GTZ, The Commonwealth Secretariat, the U.S. Government, Government of Oman, Government of Brunei and several Ministries of the Government of India. Global Network's experience has involved leading 79 trade missions, hosting 34 international trade delegations and conducting 245 international trade related conferences & seminars. 

 

Manitoba Trade has worked with Global Network on numerous projects since 2005.  In this new capacity as Representative for the Province of Manitoba, Global Network now has a continual working relationship to assist Manitoba companies with key intelligence on doing business with India, market research to aid entering Indian markets, facilitating business meetings for Manitoba trade delegations to India and taking Indian trade delegations to Manitoba. They will advise Indian companies on various aspects of Manitoba, Canada - investing, trade information, business opportunities, trade agreements with Canada, development cooperation and science & technology resources in Manitoba.

 

 

Ford Motor Studies Kenaf and Coir for Plastics Reinforcement

September 11, 2009

You don't often think of glass reinforcement as an issue when it comes green engineering. But engineers at Ford Motor Company are taking a different tack.

Dr. Deborah Mielewski, who heads plastics research at Ford, is studying several different plant materials as a substitute for glass as reinforcement in plastics. One of the big payoffs is a 30 percent weight reduction. The other issue, she says, is that glass fiber is a very energy-intensive process. Mielewski's six-woman engineering group is taking a close look at kenaf, hemp, coconut fibre ( COIR ), and wheat straw.