TARAPUR, India — D’Décor  with one million square feet of weaving, dyeing and finishing capacity, expects to complete a 100,000 square foot weaving plant here about two hours from Mumbai by September for the production of plain dobby solids according to Sanjay Arora one of two principals with brother Ajay in the growing business.

The Aroras are expecting a 25 percent sales increase for D’Décor in 2012. This makes D’Décor one of the largest home furnishings mills in the world today. By reaching such a lofty perch, D’Décor has successfully fended off the Chinese competition in the last five years and has been able to grow while the rest of the world is flat.Sanjay and Ajay Arora

The two brothers shuttle back and forth weekly by helicopter to Tarapur, thus avoiding the two hours of ground traffic. D’Décor production has been located in Tarapur for 15 years. Sanjay runs the drapery fabric business while Ajay handles the upholstery and bedding business. “The expansion is dedicated to 200 color lines of dobbies which are what the world wants,” Sanjay explains. The plains are available in 300 meter minimums and six to eight colors are added each year.  “With this expansion, the goal is to reduce lead-times even further,” he said. Deliveries are currently promised in six to eight weeks. While running full bore producing 130,000 meters a day, running three shifts, six days a week, the brothers also manage to feed 3,500 factory workers three meals a day and pay for their medical care and housing. There is a family atmosphere at the mill.

Brother Ajay likens his business to that of Asian Paints, an India based paint supplier with $1.2 billion in sales that is very profitable. He sees that color drives the paint business in the same way it drives textiles; yet, “paint is far more profitable.” He thinks he can do better based on the Asian paint model.Transportation to Tarapur

“It used to be China, Turkey and India in that order but today, it is India, Turkey and China,”  Ajay said. D’Décor started its home furnishings business about 12 years ago after being in the apparel fabrics business for 40 years. The two brothers have carried the ball in the upholstery, curtaining and the bedding business today. The new lines also feature rugs and wallcoverings made by other suppliers. D’Décor produces velvets on brand new Van de Wiele looms; jacquards on the latest Staubli looms and embroideries on 58 head Tajima machines. The company has eight finishing lines and extensive dyeing equipment. It can produce 100 percent cotton goods with Teflon® finish or all FR polyester ranges. About 60 percent of the production is in polyester; 20 percent cotton and 10 percent viscose. D’Decor is also the Disney licensee in India.

“We have proven to be cleverer than the Chinese and less expensive,” Ajay explains, but he likes the competition which has helped improved his business. “China now has higher inflation whereas India has improved its production in the last two years but our job is not over yet. We must continue to innovate and find better customers. We produce the fashion the world will want and not more of what is currently selling,” Ajay pointed out. He buys $250,000 worth of original artwork a year to make certain he has the creativity needed to produce new designs. D’Décor has its own distribution in India and has customers which feature its entire line of 2,000 sku’s in large format sample books. “We are looking for partners around the world who will feature our entire collection.” The pair prefers smaller partners as opposed to major players who would tend to dominate their production. 

Autostore material handling at D’DecorThe mill can weave dobby, jacquard, embroider and dye all of its fabrics. It also has a growing business in digitally printed bedding fabrics using a Mimaki for short runs (600m per day)  and Reggiani digital printers for longer runs (2,000 meters per day) to make its own printed designs in sheeting and curtain sets. The fastest growing area however is plain dyed dobby fabrics in 200 colors, about 70 percent of the world market today, Ajay confirms. Sanjay said that prices are competitive for solids in the $2.75-$3.25 range.

“We have seen a large boost in our business just from the Middle East alone. I can’t believe this is because of an expanding market; rather, it’s from our displacement of the Chinese goods in the market by our customers who recognize us as reliable suppliers." Digital printing

The average age of the equipment at D’Décor is about four years and the brothers say they spare no expense to have the latest technology available. “We buy equipment that is flexible so that we can make highly diverse product lines. One of the truly innovative parts of the mill is its state of the art Autostore material handling equipment which is dominated by robotics and handles the 18,000 pieces of warehouse stock. “Many of our competitors surrender all of the value of their textiles just to get the order but we do not follow that philosophy,” Ajay said.  F&FI