Svegea, a specialist machinery manufacturer and member of the Swedish textile machinery association TMAS, has delivered six EC 200 automatic collarette cutting machines to the Bangladesh-based Interstoff Group in the past year. The move is aimed at significantly boosting the company’s efficiency in producing tubular components such as cuffs, collars and neck tapes.

Interstoff, a Pandughar Group company, began operations in 2000 with just 62 sewing machines. It has since grown into a leading garment manufacturer comprising three divisions - Interstoff Apparels, Interstoff Clothing and Southeast Textile - with a workforce of more than 10,000 people and an annual production capacity of 72 million finished garments. Its state-of-the-art facilities also support daily fabric production of up to 30,000 kg, with the latest circular knitting and dyeing and finishing machinery sourced from Europe and Japan.

Each of Interstoff’s three divisions has now commissioned two Svegea EC 200 machines. The model was selected over the faster EC 300 series due to the former’s scissor-action knife system, which is more effective at cutting through seams and polyester stitching. Unlike the EC 300’s crush-cutting system, the EC 200’s dual circular blades are capable of handling complex fabric layers without compromising performance.

Equipped with Svegea’s master/slave drive system and an additional third knife set, each EC 200 machine can cut up to three bands simultaneously. This configuration enables output speeds of up to 40 metres per minute, depending on fabric type and width.

“This investment allows us to boost productivity while saving on fabric and reallocating labour to other parts of our production process,” said Shaikh Mohammad Ilias, Director of Interstoff Apparels. Svegea’s Managing Director Håkan Steene added that the company’s success in Bangladesh has been supported by its local partner Tech Cell, with whom it has forged strong ties.

The expansion in Bangladesh reflects the country’s broader ambitions. According to TMAS Secretary General Therese Premler-Andersson, the government is targeting $50 billion in ready-made garment exports by the end of this year and hopes to double that figure by 2030.

Svegea will showcase its latest semi- and fully-automatic cutting technologies at ITMA Asia + CITME, taking place in Singapore from 28–31 October, at stand D109 in Hall 6.

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