Looms of Ladakh, is a young player in the global luxury fashion industry. Notwithstanding the limitation in terms of skilled members and raw material, Looms of Ladakh, a women’s producer co-operative, has focussed attention on building and adopting an optimisation model for the product mix to increase revenue. The Optimisation Model has contributed in building the systems and production processes of Looms of Ladakh. There has been much headway in this direction. Abhilasha Bahuguna, Co-founder and Chief Strategist Loom of Ladakh, said: "we could hire young professionals in the fourth year of incubation for a period of two years with our first grant. It was necessary for Looms of Ladakh that it's young professionals and elected artisan leaders understand the context and requirements of business sustainability, more particularly since Leh, where they are headquartered, has a short tourist season". In a highly competitive market, Knowledge management systems play a crucial role as they enable businesses to properly store, search and share important data. This tool is critical for production decision-making, as it enables businesses to analyse trends and take proactive steps to boost production and efficiency. The knowledge management systems also motivate employees by providing them with an environment that enables them to quickly access and use the data they need. To enable the Looms of Ladakh team to understand the context, there has been special emphasis on Knowledge management systems. As a first step, literature was provided to the elected leaders and a telephonic base line survey was conducted. The data obtained in this process, was analysed by engaging new young professionals. The elected leaders also joined a brainstorming session on the Looms of Ladakh brand book. This has helped them in building a proper perspective of both - the local and global luxury textile industry, according to Ms Bahuguna. It was also important to understand the skills and time required for different manufacturing activities by the member owners of Looms of Ladakh. The optimisation model has helped the team in understanding the production activities better. Management systems geared towards maintaining product quality help businesses identify and eliminate any potential flaws in the production process. This tool reduces the chances of errors that can prove costly. Quality management system that works also helps motivate the production team. The Design and Production Head, who comes from a design background and plans the product mix for Looms of Ladakh, now has a better understanding when it comes to the requirements of the job. Also, the organisation is working as a team and there is total coordination between the artisan leaders and the Design Head. Looms of Ladakh, has been formed by bringing together unemployed women from remote and inaccessible villages of Ladakh. These women never went through the formal education process. After becoming part of the producers' cooperative, they were imparted training in spinning, weaving and knitting quality sheep wool and pashmina products to enhance their income generating potential. Solutions are required to reduce inefficiency and build quality in the production process. Keeping this in focus, Looms of Ladakh scaled up production in a short span of time by adding new members and through skill building. A cadre of master weavers also has been created. Simultaneously, infrastructure is being built to provide better working conditions. There is also a thrust on integrating traceability technology with the dehairing plant with the support of the technology partner. Recently, at a workshop in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, SIDBI gave the example of Looms of Ladakh and advised the participants, representing small producer organisations from different parts of the country, to replicate transparent digitisation to increase production. Underscoring the Role of Self-Help Groups in women's empowerment, Government of India's Economic Survey 2022-23 states: "The Self-Help Groups (SHGs) movement, based on the principles of group solidarity and microfinance, has existed in India for 50 years in one form or another, with its roots tracing back to the formation of the Self-Employed Women's Association in 1972. The transformative potential of SHGs, exemplified through their key role in the on-ground response to Covid-19, has served as the fulcrum of rural development through women empowerment". The Economic Survey goes on to underscore: "India has around 1.2 crore SHGs, 88 per cent being all-women SHGs. Success stories include Kudumbashree in Kerala, Jeevika in Bihar, Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahila Mandal in Maharashtra, and recently, Looms of Ladakh".
