REVIVING 
TEXTILE WEAVING INDUSTRY OF 
SRI LANKA 
SHANTA R YAPA 
A dissertation submitted to the Department o f 
Textile and Clothing Technology of the 
University o f Moratuwa 
in partial fulfillment of the 
requirements for the degree o f 
TEXTILE & CLOTHING M A N A G E M E N T 
DEPARTMENT OF TEXTSLE & CLOTHING TECHNOLOGY 
UNIVERSITY OF M O R A T U W A 
SRI LANKA 
LIBRARY 
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M O R A T U W A , S R I L A N K A 
M O R A T U W A 
MASTER OF SCIENCE 
IN 
APRIL 2006 
85401 
University of M o r a t u w a 
85401 
D E C L A R A T I O N 
The work presented in the dissertation in part or whole, has not been submitted for any 
other academic qualification at any institution. 
Shanta R Vapa 
(Candidate) 
Dr Julian Nanayakkara 
(Supervisor) 
A B S T R A C T 
The textile weaving industry is considered to be one of oldest industries in the country 
and has experienced ups and downs over the past decades. Despite the position of the 
export oriented apparel industry which has become one of the highest export earning 
sources to the country, the textile weaving industry passes a dire stage. 
Quality and prices of locally woven fabric are not competitive compared with imported 
fabric. Manufacturers combat with increasing cost of production. Although there is 
demand from export oriented garment manufacturers as well as from the domestic 
market, demand uncertainty hinders growth and new investments in the industry. 
Information collected from several small and medium scale manufacturers reveals failure 
to meet the product quality requirements, specifications and prices due to use of old and 
obsolete machinery which leads to low productivity, excessive waste generation in 
manufacturing and high cost of production, inconsistent tariff policies, untrained work 
force and financial constraints faced by (he firms arc the major causes for the prevailing 
situation. 
Having analyzed the situation it is recommended that state of the art technology should 
be introduced to the industry, the individual firms in textile and clothing industries should 
exploit opportunities available to form alliances where they can act as fully integrated 
production facilities, emphasize in developing human resources and continuous lobbying 
with the government to have consistent tariff structures to improve investor confidence to 
revive the domestic textile weaving industry. 
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T 
I wish to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the Head of the 
Department of Textile and Clothing Technology, the members of the faculty 
and the staff for giving me the opportunity to study at the University of 
Moratuwa, the guidance and continuous assistance given to me during the 
course of the study towards the Master of Science Degree. 
I also take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Dr Julian 
Nanayakkara of the Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of 
Science of the University of Kelaniya without whose guidance and assistance 
as the research supervisor this study would not have been a success. 
At this stage, I also wish to mention the co-operation and assistance given 
to me by the officials of Impressions Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Suntex Weaving 
Industries (Pvt) Ltd, Lantex Weaving Industries (Pvt) Ltd, Oshani (Pvt) Ltd, 
Naththandiya Co-operative Weaving Ltd, MVeeS Exports (Pvt) Ltd and the 
ex-officials of Kabool Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and Kabool Lace (Pvt) Ltd. 
Table of Contents 
Introduction 
1.1 Textiles 
1.2 The industry - Global and local perspectives 
1.3 The production process 
1.4 The market 
1.5 Present status of the local textile industry 
1.6 The problem 
1.7 Objectives of the research 
1.8 Significance of the study 
1.9 Limitations of the study 
Literature review 
2.1 Waste reduction 
2.2 Vertical integration 
2.3 Concurrent Engineering 
2.4 National competitive advantage 
The research methodology 
Findings 
Analysis and Discussion of findings 
5.1 Poor quality of products 
5.2 Low productivity 
5.3 Non availability of a raw material base 
5.4 High dependence on external parties 
5.5 Protectionism 
5.6 Financial constraints 
6. Conclusion & Recommendations 
6.1 Invest in new technology 
6.2 Exploit opportunities for alliances 
6.3 Consistent tariff structures 
6.4 Human Resources development 
References 
LIST OF FIGURES & ANNEXURES 
FIGURES 
I. Stages in the raw material to consumer value chain 
ANNEXURES 
1. Firms selected for the study 
2. Questionnaire 
3. The why chart