Welcome to the [TC]² Newsletter!

Index ECC and SCLC Meeting The Americas SPEED–TO–MARKET Solution [TC]² Activity Member Profile - Browzwear Important Dates A Look Ahead

Registrations still open!  Printing 2005:  A Digital Reality  - May 24-26th at the New School University in New York.  Co-produced by [TC]² and AATCC.  To register or for more information, visit www.aatcc.org

AAFA Enterprise Competitiveness and Supply Chain Leadership Committees Meet

Two of the American Apparel and Footwear Association's industry committees (ECC and SCLC) met jointly in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida from April 28 to May 1 with a rich program of presentations and breakout discussion sessions. Peter Butenhoff represented [TC]² at the ECC sessions and Jim Lovejoy participated in the SCLC sessions. A summary of four of the presentations follow:

Short Life Cycle Forecasting has consistently been a challenge for apparel products, but at Mexx International, a unit of Liz Claiborne, they have found a way to improve the forecasting while going from four to six seasons. They plan twelve collections a year for sport, men, women, and youth. The sales staff and divisions meet in a roundtable budgeting process to set budgets and quantities. Then, a blind forecast determines how much of the best product will sell. This is done with a forecasting tool from A3 Forecast Solutions that facilitates an independent product ranking, usually with five to seven people from different company groups. The A3 tool analyzes past buying behavior and the result is a seasonal collection forecast by style-color before sampling begins. This process has streamlined the planning process and reduced write-off costs of raw materials by 30%. This presentation was made by Rob van Serveen from A3 Forecast Solutions.

Lean Manufacturing is the philosophy or culture to shorten the time from customer orders to delivery by eliminating waste. In a global competitive market, better, cheaper, and faster translates to quality, cost, and schedule for apparel manufacturers. At Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, a corporate effort to transform the manufacturing culture is underway. Seven types of waste can be identified: correction, motion, over production, waiting, processing, transportation and inventory. As Carlos Zavala from Williamson-Dickie pointed out, “There is no cookie cutter approach to the implementation of lean and you do need commitment from top executives to stay with the implementation for the long haul. It may take a few years before the culture can change.”

The foundation needs to be a true change in culture that has a focus in the development of people, problem-solving and visual process.

The Textile and Apparel Industry in India contains most of the key success factors for competitiveness beyond 2004 including the presence of a fiber base, the presence of technology to convert fiber to fabric and garments, low labor cost and low country risk. The textile and apparel industry in India totaled $42 billion in 2004, of which $14 billion was produced for export. The government is planning for the Industry to grow to $55 billion by 2010. India is the third largest producer of cotton after China and the U.S. and the fourth largest economy in the world based on purchasing parity. The country also has the second largest spinning capacity and the third largest weaving capacity. It was the second fastest growing economy in 2004 at 8.2%. Projections for 2005 are for 7-8% growth. With 1.1 billion people, of which 70% are under the age of 35 and 50% under the age of 25, India's economy can pass the U.S. by 2020. Retailing is mostly small markets today but malls are beginning to appear. India is projected to have 600 malls by 2010. Organized retail chains will grow at 25 -30% per year assuming government restrictions and bureaucracy are reduced. The presentation was given by Raghav Gupta from KSA Technopak of India.

Product Life Cycle Management encompasses product development and there are three levers for effectiveness: newness, speed and discipline. Companies need to be creating new product winners instead of chasing last season's winners. A survey by KSA was presented by Jennifer Pritchard to the AAFA committees. Some of the findings are:

80% of consumers say too much apparel is designed for the youth market
59% say clothing designers don't understand what styles I like
68% of companies have not defined a target consumer
74% of companies have ineffectively integrated their target consumer

With the survey as an introduction, the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Product Development” had more meaning.

•  Define your customer.
•  Define the product development strategy.
•  Define the assortment strategy and positioning.
•  Accelerate speed to market.
•  Balance efficiency and effectiveness.
•  Integrate sourcing and development activities.
•  Enhance information availability.

Discipline to adhere to the process and calendar seems to be one of the biggest weaknesses in most companies. With discipline, web based PLM tools can provide an integrated calendar, detailed product information, a standard process, and enhanced collaborative development.

Go to www.apparelandfootwear.org to learn about joining these or other AAFA committees.

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“The Americas SPEED–TO–MARKET Solution”

  Guatemala's Apparel Sourcing Show – May 3-5, 2005 – Guatemala City

The Republic of Guatemala is Central America's largest country and by far has the region's major urban agglomeration. Its volcanoes are the highest and still very active (Agua, Fuego and Acatenango), its Mayan ruins the most impressive (of note, Tikal, which rises to over 144 ft.), and earthquakes that have leveled Antigua. In an area of 109,000 square kilometers, a population of some 14 million “chapines” (as Guatemalans refer to themselves) inhabits a territory rich in ancient culture. Guatemala is a major player in what is now called “el Mundo Maya”, an area that is also made up of southern Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Belize (originally also part of Guatemala ). About half of Guatemala's population is of Mayan descent.

Modern day Guatemala City, capital of this Central American nation, is home to the nation's administrative and transportation hub. It sprawls across a mountain plain and tumbles into the surrounding valleys. In and around this city is where the major sewing plants are located. In Guatemala City, Vestex has been organizing an annual textile and apparel show, where [TC]² has become an ally in teaching the Guatemalan manufacturers how to achieve competitive advantages for world-class export oriented practices.

Today the sewing industry is composed of some 222 sewing factories and 44 textile related mills. In terms of total employees, this textile-apparel supply chain has 131,000 people. Of course, the sewing segment makes up the larger part of the workforce, with an average of 510 employees per plant. The ultimate in this respect, is world renowned Koramsa with over 12,000 employees. Thanks to their efficiency and geographic position (in regard to the U.S. marketplace), Guatemala has a 3 week lead time (vs. 9-10 in China), which enables competition against China's much lower production cost. 65% of the sewing plants are of Korean capital.

Of Guatemala's apparel production, (94% of their apparel exports are destined to the U.S. ), the products are cotton shirts (41%) and cotton pants, jeans (22%). Looking toward the future (with CAFTA/DR), Guatemala is the most integrated of the CAFTA/DR members with its textile mills to support its sewing plants.

For this, the 14th year for the VESTEX Show, [TC]² staff members presented seminars and moderated 3 luncheon panels. This year's theme, “Speed to Market” dictated the seminar topics that ranged from “Fit and Pattern Automation using 3D Technologies” to “Full Package Success”, also highlighting “Applying Six-Sigma Quality to Apparel” and “Efficient Costing for Profitable Business”. In addition to presenting seminars, [TC]² had a booth at the show itself. During the three days, staff members had the opportunity to talk to old acquaintances and to develop new business relationships within the sewn products industry.

The 2006 Apparel Sourcing Show is to be held in Guatemala City May 15-17.

Submitted by Arturo Rodriguez, [TC]² Contract Services

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[TC]² Activity

[TC]² Continues to Advance its Bilingual Capabilities

Our member companies are increasingly requesting assistance with their Latin American partners, and in order to provide better service, [TC]² encourages its staff to learn Spanish. Basic classes have been given in-house by a bilingual staff member. I recently returned from a two week immersion program in Costa Rica and agreed to write an article on my experience. My language learning process has been part time and has occurred over a period of more than ten years; however, the process can be shortened dramatically based on the time available to invest. Many people think that it is impossible to learn a second language late in life, but although it may be more challenging, it is possible.

In 1993, having no language skills, I enrolled in two introductory courses in Spanish at UNC Chapel Hill, and later in an independent studies course on Spanish literature. These courses provided a good foundation in the basics and grammar. Since I expressed an interest in pursuing my language skills, [ TC]² sent me to my first two week immersion program; in 1994, I spent two weeks in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. I had eight hours of classes in culture, history and grammar and was assigned homework for the evenings. English was spoken at both the hotel and in some of the classes. This program improved my conversational abilities, but I was still at a beginner level. In retrospect, having English to fall back on limited the development of Spanish speaking skills.

In the years after the program, I continued to improve my language abilities in my spare time with free, self-paced internet courses, and collected materials available in both English and Spanish, such as airline magazines and materials from industry events. I found that keeping a small notebook of new words helped to increase my vocabulary. Through these methods, my language skills improved to a middle intermediate level.

In April, I participated in a total immersion program in San Jose, Costa Rica. In this scenario, the student lives with a family that speaks only Spanish, and no English is spoken at school. I enrolled for ½ day group sessions and ½ day private lessons. Fortunately, I was the only one at my level during that period, so in effect, I had private lessons all day. Morning lessons focused on grammar, conjugation and conversational skills. I requested that the afternoon classes be focused on developing my ability to communicate on topics of interest to [TC]² and the needle trades. I would explain the topics to my instructors in Spanish to the best of my ability and they would assist me with pronunciation and the Spanish translation for industry terms that I did not know. All the instructors and employees of the school had excellent language skills and spoke clearly and at a moderate pace. The challenges were with my local family and Latin Americans outside of the program. Many times I had to ask store clerks to slow their speech so that I could understand. After scheduled classes, school events were designed to expose students to other cultural activities. These activities included Latin dance lessons, cooking classes, city tours and crafts, to develop skills in an informal environment.

I left the total immersion program somewhere between an intermediate and advanced level, which may still cause difficulty understanding someone who speaks rapidly or doesn't use the classroom Castilian Spanish. Different countries, just as in different regions in the U.S., have their own terminology and sometimes the same word can mean different things. Immersion programs typically improve language skills incrementally, not drastically, unless they are for an extended period of time.

Languages must be practiced often to maintain skill level. The serious student should schedule time to practice Spanish every week and listen to Latin American news casts and programs whenever possible. Having conversations with other Spanish speaking natives or students can aid the process. To be successful, the student should have a goal in mind; my goal is to teach seminars with minimal assistance from a translator.

[TC]² recognizes the importance in understanding the Latin culture as well as the language.  Arturo Rodriguez Perez, [TC]²'s Latin America Manager, based in Guadalajara, travels extensively to attend industry events and calls on current and potential clients. Lourdes Pérez Márquez, a consultant based in Mexico City and working on a contract basis, has also been added to assist with companies in the region.

Latin America business contacts continue to be an important focus for our member companies. As the interest has increased, so has [TC]²'s offerings. Our first products in Spanish or English were introduced more than ten years ago. [TC]² plans to continue developing bilingual capabilities among its personnel in order to best serve the requirements of the industry, and encourages all industry colleagues to consider similar training.

Article submitted by Gloria Carter, [TC]²'s Certified Ergonomist.

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Member Profile - Browzwear

As a technology company specializing in breakthrough real-time 3D representation of clothing and apparel products, Browzwear's mission is to lead online product development capabilities for the apparel industry.

The company is based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and owned by its highly experienced high-tech founders. It is backed by well-known investors including Delta Galil Industries and the creator of ICQ and founder of Mirabilis, Yassi Vardi.

Based on a personalized figure (Avatar), all company products are supported by one of the world's most powerful real-time 3D engines, developed over the past four years. Collaborating with leading hardware manufacturers such as Gerber, cutting edge technologies have been utilized to aid the online shopping experience in a creative and user-friendly way with the ability to create virtual 3D garments using 2D pattern input.

Browzwear's V Stitcher clients include companies such as Adidas, Nike, Benetton, Russell, Triumph, and Delta. By using this application actively the client can reduce the product development process by 25 percent, which in turn reduces costs, including fabric, models, accessories, as well as the pattern maker's time. Quality of design is improved and clients are involved in the design process much earlier. The V Stitcher enables its user to keep products digital as long as possible and to start the product development process later and closer to the sales due date.

This savvy technology know-how, combined with Browzwear's utilization of industry resources makes what they do, work. President Yanir Farber comments, “We have worked closely with [TC]² for over four years. We see a strong demand from our customers to integrate the V Stitcher to [TC]²'s 3D scanning technology and measurement extraction software. This demand from clients to integrate between the two technologies is the best proof of the feasibility and the validity of the technologies. It is a greet honor for us to partner with [TC]².” Browzwear is a new [TC]² Associate Member, having provided software for [TC]²'s use, as well as being incorporated into the manufacturing demonstration area.

Gitay Ashuach of Browzwear visits [TC]² to provide training for its staff members.

For more information, visit www.browzwear.com .

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Important Dates

May

June

For detailed information about industry events, visit www.techexchange.com

Thanks to the techexchange site sponsors Apparel Magazine, Gerber Technology, Intentia, Lectra and Methods Workshop.

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A Look Ahead

AATCC/[TC]² Symposium - Printing 2005: A Digital Reality

Retail Systems/VICS Conference

View previous editions of this newsletter

[TC]²
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