Business Call to Action (BCtA)
Cooperating with the Indian textile industry, we pursue through our business solutions to the social issues faced by India.
Making our efforts valuable to both the Indian textile industry and Asahi Kasei
Beyond selling yarn, Asahi Kasei is undertaking many different initiatives throughout the supply chain, from raw materials to final products. These efforts help to increase the income of workers and produce solutions to social issues such as the empowerment of women in society. We also believe they benefit Asahi Kasei’s operations in terms of its ability to innovate and obtain new customers. Here are some examples of Asahi Kasei’s efforts in the Indian textile industry.
Industry-academia cooperation
Supporting education through Bemberg™
We support the education of the students and young people who will lead the Indian textile and fashion industries. With the goal of improving students knowledge and skills, we collaborate with academic institutions and contribute to the development of future of the industry. Cooperating institutions: NID, NIFT (Mumbai and Bangaluru) and DKTE-See below for more information about the institutions.
Asahi Kasei contributes to achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Related SDGs
Locations of collaborating schools
Background
The History of the Bemberg™ business in India dates back more than 40 years. Bemberg™ is used in many traditional types of clothing, such as dupatta and saree. While silk and cotton are widely known, other clothing materials have not been clearly defferentiated for retailers and consumers. At the same time, the visibility of Bemberg™ and cupro, the generic name of Bemberg™, is still low in India, This is party due to a lack of public awareness of the material as textile products and its percentages, as many clothes available in India have no tags to indicate quality-related information like you would typically see in Japan and Western couontries. Because of this, Asahi Kasei has set goals. First, direct people's attention to the materials that clothes are made from. Second, teach them about Bemberg™ so that this knowledge can be applied in manufacturing in the textile and fashion industies.
As in many other countries, women account for a large percentage of the students majoring in garment design. So, our goal is also to encourage these women to build their career in society through their activities at fashion colleges.
Students from NID during internship in Japan
NID students studyig in textile producing-area, Surat
Our activities and track record
Industry-academia cooperation should be meaningful for both students and Asahi Kasei. To this end, we do more than just present lectures from Asahi Kasei: the programs also includes the students presentation of their work and assignments that provide opportunities for them to learn from each other.
NID and NIFT Mumbai
Asahi Kasei began working with these institutions in 2016 and has focused on lectures about Bemberg™. We also arranged a visit to Surat, a major Bemberg™ production center, as extracurricalar event. We have continued meaningful activities encouranging the students to apply the things they've learned about materials to their work. For example, students have use Bemberg™ yarns to have-weave projects based on the knowledge gained from the lectures.
In 2017, NID and NIFT Mumbai held fashion show for their graduating students, with Asahi Kasei as the main sponsor. Students presented wonderful collections made from Bemberg™.
The collaboration with NIFT Mumbai started with its Mumbai school. In 2018, we also began lecturing at NIFT Bengaluru. The activities have developed and we have become comprehensively involved with NIFT, a fashion education institute with campuses in major Indian cities.
NIFT Mumbai
NIFT Bengaluru
DKTE
The first materials lecture about Bemberg™ was held in 2018. DKTE, primarily a training institute for the textile industry, educates students on the characteristics of Bemberg™ in an effort to improve their skill for workplaces engaged in weaving and other practices. Based on the knowledge about Bemberg™ obtained from the lectures, students expermented with weaving cloth and met to discuss their experiences.
Lecture at DKTE
Exchanging MoU for the DKTE activity
Results for Bemberg™
Lectures at NID and NIFT have continued since 2016. Collaboration with DKTE started in 2018. These
collaborations have gradually increased the visibility of Bemberg™ and Asahi Kasei's activities in India. Moreover, our relationships with the schools have grown stronger. The young students are full of ideas and are capable of analyzing materials in fresh ways that may even lead to the development of new applications. They also give Asahi Kasei a lot to learn from. Indeed, these industry-academia collaborations are bearing fruit.
Contribution to society
Today, sustainability is one of the most important issues in the textile industry and it draws the attention of educational institutions and their students. By learning about Bemberg™, an environmentally responsive material, and using it in their work, students have meaningful opportunities to discuss the sustainability efforts that the world requires. Learning about sustainability supports the eco-friendly development of the industries. Communicating information about the trends of textiles in Japan and Western countries nurtures students' awareness of international culture and creates opportunities to cross-culturally learn about the industry.
The core of the industry-academia cooperation in India is the development of young talent that will lead the textile and fashion industries in the future. The ability to gain more customers through the greater visibility of Bemberg™ materials will also support the weavers involved in the production of Bemberg™ in India.
Industry and academia in India: Institutions
NID (National Institute of Design): Located in Ahmedabad, NID is a national design college representative of India. It engages in industry-academia cooperation focused on students who major in textiles and garment design.
NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology): A national education institution specializing in fashion design, NIFT has campuses in major cities in India such as Delhi and Mumbai and many of its graduates, mainly designers, are active in the apparel industry.
DKTE (Dattajirao Kadam Technical Education Society): DKTE is a college of textile technologies and located in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, an area called "Manchester in the State of Maharashtra" that hosts a flourishing textile industry. The institute develops technical experts and is highly capable of advanced education in weaving, material processing, machine engineering and other subjects.
