Melina Cruz Villafaña is the chief revenue officer at Maqui, a Colombian-Mexican startup that provides fashion and textile companies with software that can track production and reduce waste. Maqui helps Latin American clothing brands optimize their supply chain management — at a time when they are competing with the ultralow prices and frenetic production of Chinese and American fast-fashion platforms.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Does the textile industry in Latin America stand a chance against ultrafast fashion and global e-commerce growth?
Mexico exported $8 billion worth of clothes to the U.S. in 2020. Consumers value quality and sustainability, so Latin American manufacturers can take the opportunity to stand out when it comes to producing ethical and high-quality products.
What can the Mexican textile industry learn from how data is used in textile operations abroad?
While about 70% of textile companies in markets like Germany use some type of tech in their processes, the rate is only 30% in Mexico. A common practice is to overproduce to make up for the losses that will come up in the production line. We insist on cultivating a data-driven culture in the industry so companies can reduce their production times and waste, and better compete internationally.
Why has Maqui decided to leverage WhatsApp to digitalize production chains?
Over 90% of Latin America’s online population uses WhatsApp, yet factory owners and operators tend to have low digitalization rates. WhatsApp is easy to use and everyone has it, so everyone involved in the production line — from seamstresses to quality control agents — can report their daily activities. That has given exceptional granularity to the data we gather.
