my
Experience @

About toteteca
• Toteteca is a combination of two words, tote (a type of handbag) and
teca (means library in Latin).
• The goal is to create a bag library of sorts where people can select
and customize bags in any color and combination of their choice and
place an order while sitting at home.
• An young entrepreneur Mr. Kaushal Chudiwala started this online
venture in 2013 with this unique concept.
• Their parent company Veda Lifestyle is a large scale manufacturer of
Handbags.
• Toteteca leverage Veda’s technical skill and manufacturing proficiency
to deliver good quality product to their customers as well as to scale
up their brand value.

Product area
Casual and
Formal
Handbags
Sling Bags Laptop Bags Backpacks

Hierarchy
FOUNDER
(Mr Kushal Chudiwala)
DESIGN HEAD
(Ms Mansi Vora)
ASSISTANT MANAGER
(Ms Sunita Yadav )
DATA ENTRY OPERATOR
(Ms Purnima )
KARIGAR HEAD
(Mr Akbar Ali )
MERCHENDISER
(Mr Rahul Yadav)

Toteteca – Major Operations from Mumbai Office
Design
Department
Sampling
Department
Production
Department

Major Clients

Customer segment
• Online Shoppers.
• Women between the age of 18 and 35.
• Independent and self-sufficient women.
• A wide range of formal and casual bags are available for almost all
age groups.

Online order placement process for a customize bag
1 2 3 4
ADD to CART REVIEW
MAKE
PAYMENT
ORDER
CONFIRMED
URL: http://www.toteteca.com/home.php

Infrastructure
• Toteteca has its own office at Nariman Points in Mumbai
• All Production of custom bags is done in house at same location
• All toteteca bags are individually handmade. Hand cut materials and
hand stitched bodywork ensure a unique creation, every time.
Production of custom bags is done in house.

Sourcing
• Toteteca make their own faux (artificial) leather. It is manufactured by
vendors in India and China.
• These artificial leather cost them between Rs 125- 370 per meter.
• There are some specific vendor who supply them material at any
point of given time.

Tools used
Punches ThokniSkiver (Rafi)ScissorAwl (SITAL)Pu and Dunlop
Other tools like ‘rassi’ (for burning the thread ends), ‘cutter’, ‘thread cutter’ and ‘danda machine’ are also used.

Material used
Toteteca use a wide range of
materials with different textures
with rich colors, soft touch and
superior durability, such as:
• SCZW
• Sahara
• Wallaby
• 417
• 105
• 147

Metal Fittings
• They use a wide range of metal
fittings which includes different
types of buttons, locks, eyelets,
jhallars, embossed logos, PU
pullers, ball chain etc.
• Sourcing of these fittings is
done from Mumbai itself.

Manufacturing Process 1
Step 1. ORDER SHEET
Order no.
Colour Quantity and number of bags to be made
Type of lining to be used
Stitch colour
Kind of fittings to be used
Name of material to be used
Specification by the customer (if any)
• Once the order sheet is ready with all the necessary details it is
handed over to the karigars (crafts man).
• Karigars are given order sheet on weekly bases.
• Order for one bag takes around 7-8 working days including its
making and shipping.

Manufacturing Process 2
Step 2: PATTERN MAKING (FERMA) AND
PREPARIN RUBBER MOCK
Step 3: CUTTING OF MATERIAL ACCORDING TO PATTERN
Step 4. APPLICATION OF ADHESIVES

Manufacturing Process 3
Step 5: JOINING DIFFERENT PARTS OF BAGS
Step 6: STITCHING ALL PARTS TOGETHER
Step 7: ATTACHIING LINING
Step 8. FINAL TOUCH ANG CLEANING OF THE BAG

Manufacturing Process 4
Step 9. BAG IS READY FOR CONSUMPTION
Step 10. BAGS ARE PHOTOGRAPHED
FOR THE RECORD

Packaging and Dispatch (toteteca custom made)
• The bag is first covered in a sponge sheet, after which bag goes into a
plastic packet to protect it from any damage.
• At final stage of packaging it to put the packet in a white thick plastic
cover along with customer info and shipping address.

Stock storage and Warehouse
• Toteteca bags are (after production) are kept in the warehouse
(wadala), quality check takes place.
• If quality check fails bags are sent back to the production house.

Toteteca – SWOT Analysis
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
OPPORTUNITY THREAT
• They only advertise through
word of mouth.
• There is no marketing
strategy followed by them.
• Brand is not much
established in the market.
• Toteteca bag works is the
only company in India
making Custom make bags.
• Toteteca offers a wide
variety of design and high
quality of material and
fittings.
• Increasing online sales all
over the world.
• New and improved
marketing initiatives to
attract consumers.
• No exclusive design
strategy is in place.
• Basic bags silhouettes are
used hence anyone can
copy them.

Toteteca – IPR’s and CSR’s
IPR
Toteteca has a registered trademark on it logo.
CSR
All the materials and other inputs are responsibly sourced and are
environmental friendly.

Projects take on by me
Following are the projects on
which I worked on during my
short stint with Toteteca
• Modification of a Casual bag
• Conceptualize and create a 9-5
office bag
• Create unique concepts for
Ethnic Clutches

Casual bag - Brief
• Take any existing bag design online keeping in mind the following
criteria:
• Casual
• Earthy
• According to the target market (age group 18-25)
• Modify the bag to make it more detailed and functional.
Bag selected : Fossil Harper Tan

Casual bag – The final design
• In order to continue the earthy minimal look body was kept in brown
colour with an earthy texture. A tribal hanging was given in order to
enhance the look of the bag
Hanging and side details (handle loop).

9-5 office bag - Brief
• A structured formal office bag, focusing on functionality and
everyday commuting.
• Motif : single colour, clean lines. Must convey formal and smart.
• Value Proposition : Must be very functional. Doesn’t need to be easy
to make. Must look expensive.
Silhouette Explorations Selected silhouette

9-5 office bag – design explorations and finalization
Design Explorations on Shapes
Selected Design Rubber Mock

9-5 office bag – The final design

Ethnic Clutches - Brief
• Study the current trend in European market for ethnic Clutches.
• Envisage new concepts and designs in each following category
• Beaded
• Cutwork
• Hand embroidery
• Machine embroidery
• Printed
Inspirations

Ethnic Clutches - Conceptualization
Concept 1
• Body – Block
Printed or plain
colour fabric.
• Flap – Rexine with
either laser cut or
ethnic print.
Concept 2
• Body – Ethnic block
printed fabric
• Flap – Sequence
work Fabric.
(VISA VERSA)

Ethnic Clutches - Conceptualization
Concept 3
• Body – two
different design
fabric with
complimentary
colours.
Concept 4
• Body – Denim fabric
or Canvas with
ethnic bead work.

Costing
EXAMPLE COST OF BAG 600.00
+ LABOUR COST 250.00
+ 3% INTERNAL COST 25.50
+ 12% EXIS DUTY 105.06
+ 5% VAT 49.02
+ 10% PROFIT 102.90
TOTAL COST 1132.48
Below is an example given to explain the costing of each bag.
Note : Cost in INR (Indian Rupee)

Conclusion (Take away)
“Learning is experience, everything else is just information.”
• Toteteca was a whole new experience for me. A company works with
a lot of departments working together and a lot of hard work and
research goes into it.
• A company which is one of its kind in the market it is very difficult to
be in the market for a very long time. Whereas toteteca has managed
to stay and grow at the same time.
• Here I got to know what is bag market and how it works. And also
how different companies select their target market and work
accordingly.

Thank you
Mayuri Saxena
AD 7