Sonal Jindal, Founder/Director of MEDUSA, an exhibition and event management platform, is no stranger to hardcore business. She was born into a family with deep roots in the hospitality industry. She chose to synchronize her career with her ambition and thus started her own venture right in the centre of the cut-throat world of fashion & lifestyle. Perhaps that is why she is in a better position to warn that COVID-19 will force the Indian fashion industry to rethink & reform for its survival.
Sonal Jindal feels that the fashion industry will have to value quality over quantity when it comes to manufacturing apparel. This out-of-the-box thinking would require the manufacturing process to focus on ‘Just-in-time’ production method.
Under Just-in-time production, the businesses would be able to minimize time, labour and materials required for the manufacturing process and produce goods as and when needed. This would also entail maintaining a minimal amount of on-site raw materials, reducing the time between production and supply considerably. Small batches of production could help the industry curtail losses and ensure an unhindered supply chain for future customers.
The global impact of COVID-19 is bound to put a spoke in the $2.5 trillion fashion industry here but Sonal Jindal advocates that the ingenuity of the thought process is what will see the industry through this immensely difficult phase.
When asked whether she was confident about the fashion industry weathering this particular storm, Sonal said, “If the business world can move on from such catastrophic events like the World Wars 1 and 2 or the Spanish flu, it could surely move forward from the COVID-19 pandemic as well. All that is required is some out-of-the-box thinking!”
Among the other concerns that she raised vis-à-vis Corona and fashion & apparel industry, Sonal Jindal raised issues like safety of workers in the industry, sourcing of raw material and ensuring regular supply chain.