When Ahmedabad-based garment exporter Madhu Enterprise Ltd clinched the contract for exporting official clothings for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, little had they thought that a software company would come forward to help them.

The software company, Global Info-Tech Ltd. provided the exporter with a software which revolutionised the way it screen printed the clothes, Global TexStyler version 1.0, the software that Global Info-Tech had provided, is the only graphics and imaging product indigenously developed in India. A complete CAD/CAM solution for screen-printing, with the textile industry being one of its application areas, was developed after nearly four years of tedious research work. ‘The only parallel research that went on the subject was done by Eric Sttoleniz in the University of Washington," said Sanjay Maheshwari director of Global Infotech. But the fact remains that Sttoleniz presented his thesis on October, 1998, while the Indian Company was already marketing the product throughout the niche areas in the country.

The MS Windows 3.1 x/95/98-based software is capable of working with all those input, output devices compatible with Windows with true colour support (16.7 million shades). "This is the only product which can perform per-colour separation automatically," Mr Maheshwari said. The company, which is targeting to achieve the Rs three crore mark from this product alone this fiscal, has big plans for the future, like taking softwares like Adobe and Corell head on. "The main advantage is cost effectiveness," according to managing director Anil Arva. International companies which provides the same software, like Vision and CDI charge around Rs 20 lakh, whereas TexStyle costs only Rs 3.5 Iakh, he added.

Coming up with an upgraded version next month, the company hopes that the software will become more powerful and cost efficient than popular softwares in the category like Adobe and Corell. The upgraded version can be used with the lowest end machines, with 300 DPR clarity and features artistic components for ornamental designing. "We want to tune the software for Indian environment so that even a design for a Badni saree can be carried out by it," Mr Maheshwari asserted. For this, the company has established a research association with Mantra, a renowned research laboratory under ministry of textiles. It is also in the process of technological association with acclaimed research institutes world-wide. Though the actual price for the version was not disclosed, it is learnt that it won’t cost more than $10.

Compiled from Asian Age