sector están ya a la altura de los requisitos internacionales para apoyar sus demandas y ayudarle a completar el paquete completo”, afirma Patricia Fernández, Gerente General de P&J, empresa de Desarrollo de Producto.

Ante el temor de los industriales del sector respecto a la supresión de cuotas en el 2005, Patricia Fernández declara de inmediato: “Va a estar bien duro. Hay que asegurar al cliente. Esperamos que vengan más paquetes completos a Guatemala. Para competir mejor después del 2005, sabemos que no podemos enfocarnos en el tema precio, pues China tendrá ventaja en ese sentido. Pero sí contamos con la ventaja de la velocidad al mercado, la respuesta rápida.”

El desarrollo de paquete completo ha fomentado la inversión en otras áreas que antes eran cubiertas por empresas en el extranjero, como lo son los laboratorios de análisis textil en donde se realizan diverso tipo de pruebas a materias primas,





  


Fotos: Prueba de resistencia de tela, elaborada en Laboratorio Textil, SGS; Muestras de tipo de tela, de biblioteca textil, para facilitar la escogencia de materia prima del comprador; Elaboración de muestras talladas a mano, elaboradas en Taller de Muestras MTL. Todas forman parte del proceso para elaborar paquete completo, en Guatemala.

Muestra elaborada de el taller de muestras MTL: de Guatemala


not have all necessary services, the sector’s peripheral companies are at par with international requirements to support their demands and help them complete full package”, states Patricia Fernández, General manager of P & J, a product development company.

As to the fear of the sector’s manufacturers regarding the elimination of quotas in 2005, Patricia Fernández is quick to add: “It will be tough. You have to assure the customer. We hope more full packages will come to Guatemala. To compete better after w2005, we know we cannot focus on price issues, as China will have the advantage in that sense. But we do count with the advantage of speed-to-market, quick response.”

Full package development has promoted investment in other areas that before were covered by companies abroad, such as textile analysis labs, where diverse testing is done for raw materials, fabric, yarn, accessories and garment. Currently, companies can request and obtain these services the same day, improving quick response to market, as Guatemala already has two textile labs: MTL-Bureau Veritas and SGS, who service the Central American industry.

Operating standards of these labs are based on international norms ATCC, ASTM, and SFM Safety Codes. For the manufacturer, the benefits these lab services represent range from cost and time savings to performing the necessary tests and thus count with the customer’s approval regarding garments manufactured according to his own specifications, therefore minimizing the manufacturers risk as he counts with support the moment his products are delivered at their final destiny.

Carlos Juárez, Manager of SGS Textile Laboratory, a subsidiary of SGS Switzerland, says that “the increase in full package has been a determining factor for expanding our company. We have invested four million quetzales, confident we now provide an analysis service that up to now, industrials had to look for in the United Status or Mexico.