From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Aiming at helping medium and small clothes manufacturers to reach the foreign market, Mart Center, the largest clothes manufacturing centre in Latin America, and the Brazilian Clothing Association (Abravest) will be releasing the Study, Technology and Information Centre for the Fashion Industry (Cetim), a model centre which will have from technical courses on adequate machinery to courses in foreign trade. The project is evaluated at around US$ 400,000.
"There is nothing similar in the country. Mart Center, which brings together over 300 clothes and accessory wholesalers, will be transformed into a great confection and knowledge centre," explained Carlos Mello, marketing manager of the Mart Center. The centre is called Caio Alcântara Machado, in homage to the largest organizer of textile fairs in the country.
A model confection was created in a 600 square meter area in Mart Center, in the largest city in Brazil, São Paulo, where management, production, business, and export courses are given to medium and small businessmen in the textile/clothing manufacture area.
According to Carlos Mello, of the Mart Center, Cetim-Cam is essential for the sector as manufactures are not used to filling out export documents, having focussed on the domestic market up to now." It is necessary to know how to establish worldwide prices, to produce international quality products, and to consider characteristics and cuts guaranteeing products the same quality," explained Mello.
According to him, another important operation is service to foreign customers. "Having someone in the company who speaks English to act in the project is fundamental. This professional will receive all support and technical orientation from Cetim".
Another Cetim activity is to provide courses for clothing manufacturers to improve their products bringing them to par with the products on the world market through quality, tendency and price training.
"We have a great team of professionals in various areas to help Brazilian clothing makers export, be it directly or through companies specialized in export," pointed out Roberto Chadad, president of the Abravest, Mart Center partner in the enterprise.
This coming March, the Cetim will already be providing service to around 30 small companies, a number to be repeated every month. They will be introduced to moulds and finishing demands and even to environmental care, required by the European and North American markets.
The Cetim includes a 150 place auditorium for courses, talks, and seminars; product confection cells (with jeans, shirts, jerseys, lycra, and school uniform production lines); a fashion information department, which includes fabric samples, tendencies, colour and design tables; a foreign trade department, offering information on import and export, international customer relations, international trade fair calendars, and the creation of new import and export consortiums.
In the textile technology department and clothing manufacture department, the Cetim-Cam will provide information such as: label use, how to wash, quality certification, moulding equalization (foreign market), adequate use of sewing machinery, lines, interlining, lining, and various kinds of washing; legal assistance, with the aid of the Weights and Measures Institute (IPEM) and the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro).
Project partners include companies Petenatti, Lycra, Canatiba, YKK, Coats Corrente, Eberle, Brother, Haco, Anel, and the Brazilian Machinery Manufacturers Association (Abimaq), which will supply products such as fabrics, models, and equipment.
