Artificial intelligence is reshaping the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector by driving major improvements in quality control, production optimization, and supply chain tracking. Key areas of impact include AI-powered vision inspection, smart factory automation, and digital workflow management.
Waeza Masnoon, an industry insider and Executive Director (Previous Experience) of Clifton Group, shared some insights with Textile Focus.
Read the key conversations-
Textile focus: Beyond Low-Cost Manufacturing: Can Artificial Intelligence Define Bangladesh’s Next RMG Revolution?
Waeza Masnoon: Absolutely, Bangladesh cannot rely on low labor costs forever. The next phase of growth will come from intelligence, speed, quality, and sustainability, not simply scale.
AI has the potential to transform every stage of apparel manufacturing—from demand forecasting and production planning to quality control, predictive maintenance, inventory optimization, and energy management. Rather than replacing workers, AI should augment human capabilities, enabling factories to produce higher-value products with greater efficiency and consistency.
For Bangladesh to remain globally competitive, we must evolve from being a manufacturing destination to becoming a smart manufacturing hub.
Textile focus: What are the key barriers to using AI technology in RMG production?
Waeza Masnoon: The biggest challenge is not the technology itself—it is readiness.
Key barriers include:
- Limited availability of clean, structured production data.
- High initial investment, particularly for SMEs.
- Shortage of skilled professionals who understand both manufacturing and AI.
- Resistance to organizational change.
- Integration challenges with legacy machinery and software.
Overcoming these barriers requires collaboration between industry, academia, technology providers, and policymakers.
Textile focus: How should companies implement digitization to boost productivity?
Waeza Masnoon: We continuously invest in technologies that improve operational efficiency and product quality in analog, as it’s cost-effective before digitization.
These include analog production monitoring, modern machinery with automation features, quality management systems, and data-driven production planning.
We are implementing analog solutions that can optimize workflow, reduce defects, improve forecasting, and minimize waste, to troubleshoot problems before investment in digitization
Technology should always serve a clear business objective: improving productivity while maintaining quality and sustainability while being cost effective.
Textile focus: How do you see the future growth of the RMG sector?
Waeza Masnoon: I remain very optimistic about Bangladesh’s RMG industry.
Our future growth will be driven by moving beyond volume toward value creation. This means producing more technical and functional apparel, investing in sustainability, adopting digital technologies, developing skilled talent, and strengthening compliance and innovation.
Global buyers increasingly seek reliable, transparent, and sustainable partners. Bangladesh has already demonstrated resilience and manufacturing excellence. If we successfully embrace digital transformation and AI, I believe our industry can become one of the world’s leading examples of smart, sustainable apparel manufacturing.
The future belongs not to the lowest-cost producer, but to the most innovative, agile, and trusted manufacturer.
