Trident is excited about the future of India and Indian textiles exports
Trident Limited is the flagship Company of Trident Group, an Indian business conglomerate and global player. Headquartered in Ludhiana, Punjab, Trident Limited is a vertically integrated textile (Yarn, Bath & Bed Linen) and Paper (Wheat Straw-based) manufacturer. Trident’s towels, yarns, bedsheets and paper businesses have earned global recognition and are delighting millions of customers across India and the world. Trident is one of the largest players in home textile in India. Supplying national, captive, and retailer owned brands, the organisation is highly decorated with awards from its customers, vendors, and various government entities in recognition of advancing the highest standards in product quality, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship.
Samir Joshipura, Group CEO, Trident Group, during an interview with Divya Shetty, underscores the company’s endeavour to emerge as a leading global textile entity through the integration of diverse sustainable and automated initiatives.
In the face of evolving consumer preferences, how does Trident Group innovate its textile designs and production processes to stay ahead of trends while maintaining sustainability practices?
At Trident, we are focused on continuously improving our processes and designs according to customer preferences. Our major manufacturing facility at Budhni, Madhya Pradesh (MP) is a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) facility. We are extensively using agriculture-based fuels such as wheat/paddy straw, rice husk and cotton dust for power generation at our captive co-gen power plants at MP and Punjab with non-coal fuels catering to around 60 per cent of our fuel requirements. There has been substantial investment in renewable energy generation with current solar power installed capacity of around 12 MW, with projects lined up to further increase in solar power generation. In the last year we planted around 1 million trees in our plantation drives across MP and Punjab. Overall, we have invested around Rs 48 crore in our environment centric projects during FY23.
Product development process at Trident is backed by both primary and secondary market research. We conduct regular market surveys and focus group studies in collaboration with our research partners to evolve according to changing customer needs and stay ahead of mass market trends. Design of self-fabric bags to ensure minimum wastage, and customised hem treatments for pillowcases are some of the latest initiatives in the product development space.
How does Trident Group ensure ethical sourcing of materials and fair labour practices throughout its supply chain?
We follow a rigorous vendor selection process and focus on ancillary partnerships for the development of small and medium industry. For cotton sourcing, we prioritise cotton produced by sustainable farming practices, more than half of cotton sourced in the past year was BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified. In paper business we select sourcing partners certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS).
Employee welfare is a key focus area at Trident, we have started the Panchsabha initiative for free and fair redressal of employee grievances. Sameep is an AI enabled chatbot that caters to the day-to-day HR related queries and grievances of employees. The Takshashila is our flagship program at Trident aimed at providing a platform to the skilled people from grassroot Bharat and conducts programs for upskilling and re-skilling experienced employees. Many other initiatives including subsidised meals and special Asmita leaves to our women employees makes Trident an employee-first organisation.
Could you elaborate on Trident Group’s efforts to incorporate advanced technology, such as automation and AI, into its manufacturing processes to enhance efficiency and product quality?
At Trident we are open to learning about the best-in-class practices and systems. We collaborate with the leading globally acclaimed knowledge partners for instituting state-of- the-art systems and improving existing business processes. We are focusing on the Cloud & Mobility First approach to make our systems more secure, scalable, and reliable. We are implementing global best practices to improve the user experience for all stakeholders including users, vendors, and customers. The focus factory-based approach has helped us achieve increased quality levels, and machine-wise production confirmation. Management Cockpit & Advanced Analytics has led to improved visibility in business performance. On the compliance front, we are aligned on integrating our systems with government portals and improving visibility on environment, health and safety parameters.
In an increasingly competitive market, how does Trident Group differentiate its brand and offerings to attract and retain customers, both domestically and internationally?
We have implemented the best technology for our manufacturing processes and are focusing on end-to-end digitalisation of our business processes that is helping us in the competitive landscape. In a fiercely competitive market, we prioritise product quality above all else. We understand that discerning consumers demand excellence, and therefore, we invest in stringent quality control measures throughout our manufacturing processes. By adhering to the highest standards, we ensure that each of our product embodies reliability, durability and superior craftsmanship.
We continuously strive to push the boundaries of what is possible, constantly seeking out new methodologies and technologies. Whether it’s through groundbreaking product designs, advanced materials, or cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, we are committed to providing our customers with innovative solutions that meet their evolving needs in a responsible and eco-conscious manner. From ethically sourcing raw materials to minimising waste and emissions in our production processes, we are dedicated to reducing our environmental footprint and fostering a more sustainable future for generations to come.
With the rise of e-commerce platforms, how is Trident Group adapting its marketing strategies to effectively reach and engage with consumers in the digital space?
We have presence on major e-commerce platforms across India and abroad. We are eager to explore this space further with a focus on increasing our product portfolio on existing platforms. We are exploring new ecommerce platforms to get on for increasing our customer reach. MyTrident is Trident’s own ecommerce platform for home textiles where we are seeing a healthy customer footfall.
We use Sales Force based platforms and tools to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience and track their orders on a real-time basis. It also helps us to capture and analyse consumer’s preferences for product development and better future engagements. Trident is currently running an integrated Distributor Management System (DMS) accessible through a web-based URL and a Sales Force Automation (SFA) through a mobile app. The SFA app enables the sales team to punch orders and retailers can track the same through DMS providing real time tracking, enhancing convenience and speed of order processing. The platforms offer improved efficiency through automation, reducing manual data entry, and streamlining sales processes. Additionally, it collects live user location, enabling real-time order placement, and facilitates attendance monitoring based on geo-tagging and fencing.
Given the global focus on environmental conservation, what steps is Trident Group taking to minimise its ecological footprint, such as reducing water usage and adopting eco-friendly production techniques?
Our operations at Budhni, MP is a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) facility, with the ETP plants catering to 100 per cent of towel and sheeting wastewater treatment. We are saving around 475 million gallons of water each year by recycling and reusing water at this facility. As mentioned, renewable generation remains a key focus where we strive for meeting 50 per cent of our energy requirements through renewable sources by 2025. At present, around 28 MW of solar power capacity is operational with projects for expansion lined up. Additionally, we are committed to transition to non-coal fuels for energy generation and are extensively using agriculture- based fuels such as wheat/paddy straw, rice husk and cotton dust for power generation at our captive co-gen plants.
How does Trident Group collaborate with other industries or organisations to foster innovation and address common challenges, such as waste management or energy conservation, within the textile sector?
We have partnered with Green Story for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a method used to evaluate product footprint across impact areas like carbon and water footprint in line with ISO 14040/44 standards. Additionally, we are collaborating with AII (Apparel Impact Institute) for developing, Clean by Design a tool aiming reduction of energy and water emissions by adopting best practices like metering and data management, condensate recovery, process water reuse, heat recovery, improving boiler efficiency, and improving insulation. Currently Four factories are part of this 1-year program. Further we are collaborating with AII on Carbon Leadership Project that is a Carbon Tech Self-Assessment Tool for baselining, benchmarking and metering of GHG gases and emissions.
Lastly, what are the expansion plans of Trident Group?
At Trident we are excited about the future of India and Indian textiles exports. We are optimistic about the PM Mitra scheme as a great step in increasing India’s textile output. We are eager to contribute to building the Kasturi cotton brand and have started working towards it under the 5F (farm to fashion) vision.
Trident group has a global footprint giving us the opportunity to understand customer preferences from around the globe and evolve according to changing customer preferences. Our overseas offices are based out of New York, Dubai and London. Our focus in brand building and promotional activities is helping us to establish a loyal customer base worldwide and build Trident Group’s brand equity. On the retail front we are increasing our footprint in multi brand retail, and shop in shop concept stores. We are working to build new partnerships with major e-commerce platforms in India, US and Europe for increasing market penetration and understand evolving customer needs. We are continuously expanding our product portfolio with a strong focus on sustainability. We have initiated developments with a range of unconventional natural fibres like banana, hemp, nettle, flax, etc. Regenerative Cotton is a new domain we have delved into for ensuring complete traceability for sustainable sourcing.
