Jungwoo Group

Advance competitiveness beyond production infrastructure to market information and trend proposals

Strengthen AI-based digital proposals and R&D..."A partner who grows with Buyer"

 ▲Vietnam Corporation Factory View

 

 ▲Jungwoo Textile Seongsu-dong Office Building

 

Founded in 1982, Jung Woo-fiber (Chairman Oh Byung-chul) and Jung Woo-bina (Chairman Oh Byung-chul, President Lee Bok-hwa) strengthened their supply competitiveness by establishing a global production infrastructure linking Korea, Vietnam, and Guatemala last year. Based on this, Jung Woo-bina (Chairman Oh Byung-chul, President Lee Bok-hwa) will take a new leap forward this year with R&D and information competitiveness.

 

Going a step further from the existing strategy, which focused on expanding production capacity, it is speeding up its differentiation by strengthening its strategy to join buyers from the product planning stage based on global market information and trend analysis. In a market where fabric quality and production capacity are upwardly leveled, the standard of competitiveness is shifting from "how well do you make it" to "what do you propose first?"

 

Based on the global production network, Jungwoo Vina is planning to further increase its competitiveness as a fabric company that grows with customers by combining R&D, market information, and digital proposal capabilities.

 

AI, R&D, Logistics Combination…Evolution of Fabric Competitiveness

Jungwoo Bina has recently strengthened its global market research and trend analysis functions. It is a method of self-analyzing consumption trends and material changes in major global fashion markets and season-by-season item trends and providing them to buyers, and proactively proposing fabrics suitable for the next season based on them. It is explained that the company is building a new cooperative model in which suppliers analyze the market first and present directions, away from the structure where buyers directly collect necessary information and request fabrics as before. As the quality of fabrics in the global market has become a basic competitive factor, presenting market trends and material trends that buyers have not yet grasped is becoming a new differentiating factor.

 

Jungwoo Vina is also expanding its use of digital technology. It is providing visualized images of fabrics that are developed using AI-based image technology when they are actually made into clothing, enabling buyers to make decisions faster and more intuitively during product planning. The company has strengthened its service competitiveness to support product planning and design processes beyond simply supplying fabric samples.

 

Logistics competitiveness is also considered a key axis. As the global fashion market is reorganized around a fast supply system, not only quality but also lead time and supply stability are emerging as major competitiveness. Jungwoo Vina is establishing a supply system that organically links Korea's R&D functions with Vietnam and Guatemala production bases.

 

Korea is in charge of developing new materials and small-scale production of multiple varieties, Vietnam is securing mass production and quality competitiveness based on the world's largest knit vertical production system, and Guatemala acts as a forward base for responding to the U.S. market by taking advantage of its geographical advantage adjacent to the North American market. The production system, which connects regional specialized functions, is evaluated as Jungwoo Bina's own strength to respond quickly to changes in the global market.

 

The criteria for global buyers to select suppliers are also rapidly changing. ESG is no longer a differentiator, but a basic condition for transactions. If this is not met, it is difficult to trade with global brands. Jungwoo Vina is responding to global ESG standards by converting solar facilities, biomass fuel, and establishing an eco-friendly production system, and using this infrastructure as a reliable evaluation factor.

 

We are paying attention to the Americas as the biggest growth market over the next five years, and the existing production infrastructure has been optimized accordingly. In response to the expansion of the sportswear and activewear markets, the development of functional fabrics based on cotton and TC spinning is also continuously expanding.

 

Changes in the global fabric market are also the background that led to Jungwoo Bina's strategic shift. In the past, price competitiveness through mass production led the market, but recently, as product groups by brand have been subdivided and materials required by season and region have diversified, the multi-variable and small-scale production system is rapidly spreading. Demand for differentiated materials with functionality, design, and eco-friendliness is also steadily increasing rather than simple basic fabrics.

 

As a result, Jungwoo Vina is making material development tailored to market changes and rapid proposal capabilities at the core of its competitiveness rather than expanding production scale, and continues to expand new fabric development and customer-tailored proposal services reflecting global trends.

 

Even in the age of AI, the answer is talent...Industrial competitiveness is, after all, a person

Jungwoo Vina is also making full use of AI. Although the automatic inspection system has been introduced in the quality control (QC) sector to enhance productivity and inspection efficiency, the company believes that AI cannot completely replace human senses due to the nature of the textile industry. This is because fabric has so many variables such as materials, tissues, colors, and post-processing methods that it needs a different approach from standardized industries like automobiles. 

 

Accordingly, it is judged that 'Private AI', which reflects company-specific data, is more suitable for the textile industry than general-purpose AI. In the end, AI is not a technology that replaces people, but a tool that further enhances the competitiveness of talented people with planning and senses.

 

This change is also in line with the direction that the Korean textile industry should move forward. China is showing strength in production and Japan in technology, but its rapid response to market changes, planning, and speed of development are areas where Korean companies can still secure a competitive advantage. In addition, as manufacturing competitiveness alone is limited, high value-added competitiveness that combines R&D, information, logistics, and digital services is expected to be a new growth engine.

 

Along with strengthening the manufacturing base, Jungwoo Vina sees the creation of an industrial ecosystem as an important task. It is explained that the competitiveness of the Korean textile industry can be maintained only by establishing a field-oriented talent training system through infrastructure investment in domestic production bases and support for overseas manpower supply and demand, industry-academic cooperation, internship expansion, and design talent development in connection with universities.

 

Just as K-beauty is leading the global market based on an industrial ecosystem in which manufacturing, planning, marketing, and logistics are organically connected, the textile industry should secure new competitiveness that combines planning, information, and R&D beyond fabric production.

 

"Now, it is difficult to secure global competitiveness just by making good fabrics," said Lee Bok-hwa, president of Jung Woo-binna. "It is most important to read market changes and trends first and preemptively propose materials that customers need." "In the future, we will continue to strengthen our R&D and information competitiveness and actively utilize AI and digital technologies to grow into a trusted global partner with buyers from the planning stage."