Index SGMA Mass Customization Symposium [TC]² Activity Member Profile - Superior Sewing Important Dates A Look Ahead

SGMA
Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association
3-D Body Scanning Captures Convergence of Sports + Technology

In the sports and fitness world, customization is about much more than individualization. Today, technology enables manufacturers, retailers, coaches, and trainers to accurately measure an athlete’s stride, grip, stroke, swing, and kick. Sports enthusiasts benefit from an enhanced experience which leverages their unique attributes and strengths.

Soon, technology applications will take customization to a whole new level and reset expectations about the user experience, especially for the booming fitness business. 3D body scanning will soon come to market, allowing athletes from amateur to elite to accurately measure body specifications, track silhouette changes over time, and monitor body fat percent.

For businesses based on fitness, sports, and apparel, the implications of a sophisticated 3D body image are fantastic. At SGMA’s Sports + Technology Convergence October 24-26, in LaJolla, CA, David Bruner of [TC]² will showcase a new reality in 3D imaging that will greatly enhance both the user interface/experience as well as encourage new channel partners for brands.

Fitness trainers and coaches can use 3D body scanning to develop programs with real-time, precise measurements which can be tracked over time with interactive software. The model enables customization and accurately matches performance against goals.

For manufacturers and retailers, this technology provides new outlets for brands that can focus on the customer experience. A data sharing network, planned by [TC]², will send a digital file to a consumer looking for custom-fit apparel and gear based on the scanner’s measurements. All brands and service providers who can provide a product based on that customer’s body specifications will have a presence to the end-user, and the user will be able to select from truly custom-fit merchandise that enhances the overall brand experience.

For bricks and mortar outlets, the accuracy of a 3D body scan will eliminate today’s practice of selling based on size prediction. By recommending stock that best matches the in-store customer’s needs and precise measurements, 3D technology will significantly enhance the retailer’s opportunity to generate a unique and loyal customer relationship.

For more details on the Sports + Technology Convergence event, go to http://stc.sgma.com.

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	Mass Customization Symposium November 3-4, 2006 Albuquerque, New Mexico

[TC]² is co-producing a three day event which will bring together a small, exclusive group of executives for a program focusing on mass customization technologies and how they can be applied to improve business strategies. Facilitated interactive workshops and case studies with practical applications will be presented by experts from academia and industry.

For more details (PDF file), click here, or visit www.abusinessaffair.com/mass_customization for a copy of the agenda and discussion topics.

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[TC]² Activity

Southern Textile Association Marketing Forum
By Kim Anderson, PhD

The Southern Textile Association, Inc. held their 2006 Summer Marketing Forum on Thursday August 17th at Gaston College in Belmont, NC. This year’s theme was Developing Successful Networks. With his trademark sense of humor, Jim Booterbaugh from National Spinning Co., Inc. moderated the event for the fourth year in a row.

Brad Beal, Executive Vice President of Jockey International, gave a presentation entitled Is the World Flat or Is Git’er Done All You Really Need To Know? His consummate knowledge of the industry came through in a seemingly extemporaneous presentation.

Beal stressed the need to have a clear and cogent strategy and plan, take responsibility and make conscious choices. Beal warned that globalization is here to stay. To be competitive, companies must be active learners and be willing to go the extra mile. Beal implored the attendees to get to know their customer and stressed the point by asking the audience—“Have you hugged your customer today?”

Beal also stressed the need to develop unique products. He drove home the importance with a quote from the famous fashion designer, Coco Channel—“To be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
 
Dr. Christine Cole, Director, Clemson Apparel Research and a Professor in the Material Science Engineering department at Clemson, gave a presentation entitled The Integrated Textile – Apparel – Military Supply Chain. When asked to make special measurement apparel for the military, the Clemson demonstration center evolved into a manufacturing facility. Along with the request came a hard to manage, complex supply chain.

Dr. Cole and her colleagues have developed software to help effectively manage their newly acquired supply chain. In her summary, Dr. Cole shared 3 pieces of information that might help to attain an efficient supply chain: everyone involved must have common objectives; ordinary tools don’t provide sufficient insight; and all supply chains have similar problems—stockouts and excess inventory.

Glen Larsen, Vice President of Manufacturing & Logistics of Cintas Corporation, gave a presentation entitled Changes in Our Textile/Apparel Supply Chain. Larsen shared the challenges that uniform manufacturers face. Unlike traditional apparel retailers, when a uniform supplier runs out of product, the customers can’t choose an alternative.

Larsen explained the trials and tribulations of both Cintas’s textile and apparel supply chain. Along with the benefits of offshore manufacturing come the downsides including social compliance and transportation issues.

Larsen identified what Cintas refers to as the common denominators or attributes of a good supplier—capable production, effective coordination and talent for innovation. To Cintas, these abilities equal maximum value.

Larsen implored the audience to not ignore product development—avoid focusing on commodity products…look at niche!

Gary Gray, Executive Vice President of Sewell Clothing Company, Inc., gave a presentation entitled Networking to Survive—The Reality Show. Gray said the 80 year old company is now in survival mode. Sewell Clothing use to pick and choose their customers…only pursuing work that fit into their current line.  Recently, the company had an attitude adjustment and quit saying no. The traditional manufacture of fine suits for men is now expanding their product line to include uniforms for firefighters and the military.

Justin Akinleye, Sales manager for Mack Brooks Exhibitors, detailed the specifics of the upcoming MEGATEX show. The ATME has been joined by IFAI Expo and AATCC to produce MEGATEX.  The show will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center on October 31st - November 3rd. For those who pre-register, the show is free of charge.

Howard Zins gave a presentation entitled Principles and Guidelines in the Development of Healthcare Textiles. Zins is a private consultant focusing on the development of medical textiles. With the baby boomers aging and global infectious diseases gaining attention, medical textiles have become a fast growing niche market that might give traditional manufacturers a much needed product outlet. Zins shared some of the challenges associated with developing a medical textile.

Jack Stone, Chief Encouragement Officer of Stone International, LLC, gave a presentation called Textile and Apparel Clustering & Collaboration. Statisticians predict a staggering population growth in India and China in the next 40 years. Stone believes this will present huge opportunities for U.S. companies.

To tap into opportunities, Stone believes companies must develop their own brands and market them directly to the consumer. He warned the audience not to depend on retailers to sell their products. The current trend is for retailers to develop their own brands. If this trend persists, retailers will have little interest in selling anything but their products.

Stone and his associates have concentrated their efforts in South Carolina.  Their goal is to develop “clusters” consisting of companies working together to develop successful brands which can be sold directly to the consumer.

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Member Profile
Superior Sewing Machine & Supply LLC

Superior Sewing Machine & Supply LLC is a wholesale distributor of industrial sewing and cutting machine replacement parts and supply items to dealers and import/export firms throughout the world. The company’s world headquarters is located at 48 West 25th Street in New York City. Regional sales offices are located in Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California.

The company's history reflects its customer-driven approach. Over fifty years ago, Herbert Klapper, the founder of Superior Sewing Machine, recognized that industrial sewing machine dealers needed a dependable source for readily available high-quality spare parts. At that time, dealers had limited access to original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") replacement parts and high quality alternatives were simply unavailable. OEMs tended to focus on directly servicing the rapidly expanding sewing factories, leaving local dealers without a good source of supply.

Mr. Klapper, the son of a local New York second-hand sewing machine dealer, founded Superior to address the needs of the dealers. Dealers could order from Superior and have orders shipped directly to their customers ("drop shipments"). These drop shipments required a great deal of faith in Superior's commitment to protect dealers and their confidential information. Superior has never wavered from this original philosophy.

Herb Klapper's vision began in 1949 with only a few hundred items available.  In 1999, he passed away, turning over day to day control of the company to Lonny Schwartz who had worked alongside Mr. Klapper for 11 years.  Today, Superior is an international company offering over 300,000 different items, with over 35,000 of these parts and supplies considered core "Superior" products. The company takes pride in its high-quality parts and supplies and its order fulfillment rate of over 95% of all core parts shipped the same day.

Parts are evaluated and tested before they are sold, and further monitoring takes place to insure the same level of quality is maintained from the vendors.

In addition to supplying a vast assortment of parts and supply items, Superior is a main distributor of Brother, Kansai, Mitsubishi, Pegasus, and Racing factory supplied parts throughout the Americas. Superior is also the exclusive authorized distributor of Hirose hooks in the United States.

In 2000, Superior acquired its largest competitor in North America, Unity Sewing, which helped Superior remain extremely strong and allowed it to maintain the infrastructure needed to properly service its customers during the market concentration that has taken place in the past six years.

Lonny Schwartz, President of Superior Sewing, comments, “Superior knows that its primary market, the Americas, is in a rapidly changing state and that there has been and will continue to be migration of sewn products manufacturing operations out of the Americas and into China, India and other countries.  However, it firmly believes that there will be significant sewn products manufacturing operations in the Americas for the foreseeable future and that trade agreements such as CAFTA might even bring more sewing back into the Americas.  Therefore, Superior continues to invest heavily in its people, its products and its infrastructure so that it will remain properly positioned to deliver to its customers the parts and supplies they need to enable them to facilitate efficient and cost effective sewing in the Americas.”

Superior Sewing works closely with its valued customers, expanding product lines to meet the needs of a constantly evolving marketplace for over a half-century. For more company information, visit www.supsew.com.

Intro to Apparel Manufacturing
[TC]² - September 18-22
Register Now!

[TC]², in conjunction with North Carolina State University College of Textiles, offers an overview of the entire manufacturing process in this program.  Topics covered include:  textile fundamentals, fiber formation and fabric design, fabric characteristics, material utilization, spreading and cutting theories, and much more.  Key apparel terms and concepts are featured, along with standard terminology for seam and stitch formations. 

To register or for more information, visit http://www.tc2.com/what/seminars.html. 

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Important Dates

August

September

October

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 in the Newsletter


MAGIC Sourcing Show Review
Material World
SEAMS Fall Meeting

View previous editions of this newsletter

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