Innovation can facilitate productivity: Speakers

Proper use of innovation can facilitate productivity, said speakers at a programme.

They said cooperation among young leaders to identify the right innovation for any industry should be emphasised. Youth leaders must come together to promote and adopt the right innovations.

Speakers made the observations at a session called "Bangladesh Apparel Youth Leaders' Perspectives on Innovation," on the fifth day of Digital Trade Week. The virtual session was organised by Merchant Bay.

Among others, the session was attended by: Rafee Mahmood, director of Mahmud Group, Al-Shahriar Ahmed, managing director of Adzi Trims Ltd, Sakib Ahmed, deputy managing director of Broadway Group, and Aqib Jafri Sharif, project coordinator of Northern Toshrifa Group. Abrar Hossain Sayem, managing director of Merchant Bay Ltd moderated the session.

At the programme, Director of Mahmud Group Rafee Mahmood shared some important aspects of innovations. He said, "In our textile industry, innovation is a must, but it has to be done with the minimum use of natural resources."

He said right now, we all are using technologies that are much more ecofriendly than the earlier ones. For example, we have technology that uses only one glass of water to wash a pair of denim pants. We can use technology like Smart Indigo which has oxygen as a by-product, to contribute to protecting the environment.

Right now, we are focusing on the innovation that reutilises 70% of our industrially used water, he added.

Sakib Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director of Broadway Group, said, "It is obvious that the majority is hesitant to accept the new innovation because of the additional cost it would incur. But I don't think innovation is always very expensive, in many ways we can use new innovations and technologies to run the business more efficiently."

He observed that the use of new innovations or technology depends entirely on our mentality.

Aqib Jafri Sharif, Project Coordinator of Northern Toshrifa Group, said, "Speaking of the role of technology, it is necessary to mention that we are using software and platforms in our company whose results are remarkable. We have increased our productivity plus our overall management has become more efficient. Using technology, we have greatly reduced the flaws in our products."

Al-Shahriar Ahmed, Managing Director, Adzi Trims Limited said even in the accessories industry, innovation is being welcomed and they have invested to make environmentally friendly products with sustainable and recycled materials.