Newport News/Spiegel Selects Yunique for PLM

Company Expects 50 Percent Reduction in Product Development Time

Newport News Holding Co. has implemented Yunique Solutions' plmOn solution. Approximately 100 users are live on the system, including employees in the design, technical design, sourcing and buying departments. As a result of the implementation, Newport News/Spiegel expects to reduce product development time by 50 percent, and to achieve ROI in one year, said Jojo Sanez, senior manager of production and planning, Newport News/Spiegel. Installed primarily at the apparel cataloger's Manhattan headquarters, Yunique's browser-based software is helping Newport News/Spiegel to improve communication and collaboration across its global supply chain and significantly reduce new product development cycle times, the companies reported.

After many years of using a homegrown Probe computer system, Newport News wanted a better technology platform that would allow it to link its design, merchandising, sourcing and supplier teams around the world, said Sanez. "In addition to system performance issues, our homegrown system would not allow us to fully integrate our designers in new product collaboration," Sanez said. "We wanted a tool that would give us the image management capabilities needed to view, share and visually collaborate across our entire process."
Sanez added that plmOn is a "true web-based solution that gives us the simplicity and ease-of-use we needed to get our designers and trading partners up and running very quickly."Newport News also reported that it chose plmOn because the solution:
l runs on .NET technology;l allows the company to share information in real-time across its SKU-intensive business; and enables quick concept development from its "wish list" of fabrics, styles and trims, etc. "We can then collaborate with our agents and suppliers on their ideas and bids," said Sanez.

e-Tape Captures Measurements Automatically

e-tape, a new solution designed to offer a faster and easier way to capture apparel measurements, has been introduced by Manchester, U.K.-based e-Measurement Solutions Ltd. The configurable technology has applications for quality control, product development, retail fitting, size surveys, made-to-measure garment programs and textile testing.The e-tape system includes a wireless handheld device similar to a traditional body measurement tape but without any measurement markings. The user pulls the device's measuring tape across the length being measured and clicks a button to automatically capture the measurement digitally. Measurements instantly populate data fields onscreen, eliminating the need to manually record the data. The e-tape's lack of measurement markings helps to prevent human error and improve data quality, said Roz Davies of e-Measurement Solutions. For example, quality assurance personnel often measure to ensure that a garment matches specs, and are more likely to assess a measurement, at, say, six inches, if that figure is front of mind from a spec sheet. With e-tape, there is no room for subjectivity, she said.

Apparel Search Deploys New Services

Apparel Search has launched two online job sites that are free to the apparel marketplace.One of the sites, www.ClothingIndustryJobs.com, offers descriptions and links to a diverse range of open positions, from executive sales roles to manufacturing and design jobs. The other site, www.DesignerSearch.com, is set up to help facilitate connections between fashion and textile industry artists, designers, design studios and companies that are searching for assistance with design functions. Designers can post their portfolios and employers can use search tools to find artists and designers to hire. In an effort to help artists who wish to free-lance "on the side," Apparel Search enables users to engage in anonymous communication, so that a potential employer can contact an artist without seeing the artist's full contact information.

Centric Software Offers 'Ëå"Product Intelligence' Solution

Centric Software has developed a new apparel solution -- Centric Collection Management -- launching one of the first software tools for the apparel marketplace that fits in the "product intelligence," or PI, technology category. The software interfaces with a wide range of other systems, from CAD to PLM to SCM and ERP tools, to cull relevant information that all sorts of people within an apparel company (or its suppliers' organizations) need to make decisions, Centric CEO Chris Groves told Apparel. Italy-based Artsana, a supplier of children's apparel and other products, is deploying the solution, and Groves said other flagship apparel and footwear clients were involved in development of the application but could not be named. Centric, which has received financing through a major Silicon Valley venture capital deal, reports that its system can be used in conjunction with PLM technology, or take the place of PLM for companies that don't want to invest in a traditional PLM system.
Grove said one difference between Centric's PI solution and business intelligence (BI) technology is that PI solutions bring in the front-end information from CAD and PLM systems, including access to images of the product or concept specifications.

The Collection Management system allows users to search not only network resources but also other users' PCs to look for files and data that may be relevant to a project (i.e., Excel files, design files, e-mails that reference a certain style or order, etc.). For example, a user might want to see the last time his or her firm used a certain supplier or design theme, and could "google it" through the system, looking into approved access areas of his or her colleagues' computers to see what they might be working on related to that supplier or design. Groves stressed that there are a lot of security protocols around this unique functionality.

AIE Apparel Implements Browzwear

AIE Apparel, one of India's leading apparel manufacturers, has completed its implementation of Browzwear International's V-Stitcher and is using it for 3-D virtual sampling. AIE worked with Browzwear's Asian partner, Pragma Solutions, to roll out and train users on the solution. AIE works with buyers from Nordstrom, Caffeine Inc., Johnny Cotton and others, and has been working to improve its sampling efficiency.
Anish Tandon, CEO of AIE, said: "Gone are the days of pattern makers' manually drawing patterns without an idea of the physical body on which the pattern has to be fitted on. These days, it has to be done with the help of technology, and that is what the V-Stitcher is all about."
Tandon added that he believes V-Stitcher will help AIE improve more than its sampling processes. The software also will help AIE's factory "arrive at the final pattern/fit and specs" for programs more quickly and ensure that "the final pattern is one which is error-free," he said.
8for more information: www.browzwear.com, www.picsoln.com

TradeStone Adds New Unified Buying Tool

TradeStone Software has released TradeStone for Trading and Product Development Companies, the latest addition to its TradeStone suite of technology that is designed to facilitate a unified buying process. Central to the new tool is the Virtual Showroom, a secure online workspace that enables local retail buyers and merchants to select pieces as well as attributes (cuts, colors, sizes and packaging) from a general collection so that they can create local brand extensions of private label merchandise. Buyers and merchants can examine the entire season's collection and view the line breakdown by sales channel, delivery date or other factors, TradeStone reported. The solution offers a visual presentation of departmental portfolios by color, size and style, and allows users to make changes that influence and determine future flows to stores based on incoming sales information.

Likewise, the central buying group at the trading company or product development company can collect the buyers' and merchants' orders in real time, compare selections, make recommendations based on known volume discounts, adjust mark-up percentages, compare the projected selling price to the estimated landed cost and forecast margins per item by distribution.

TukaTech Upgrades CAD Online

TukaTech is offering automatic upgrades via the Internet to all of its CAD software users with an annual subscription to the technology.
Users can check for updates on a regular basis, and the firm's update manager recognizes a user's current version and installs the appropriate update. TukaTech also is posting new shortcuts, software updates, training videos, pattern-making tips and other knowledge-based suggestions on the web. At pre-determined intervals, users can view a reminder pop-up window about new information available via the site.

Lectra Launches PLM Solution Also Expands Presence in Asia

Lectra has launched its product lifecycle management (PLM) solution, developed for managing the lifecycle of fashion products and collections, and for shortening lead times and reducing costs associated with new style conceptualization and ongoing collection renewal.
The solution features product development, line planning, workflow management and management dashboard applications, is fully configurable and built on a web-based platform. Lectra's PLM offering will be linked to the company's design, pattern making and prototyping applications for greater optimization of collections development processes. By mid-year, the applications will allow 3-D visualization and validation of virtual prototypes. A future version of Lectra's PLM offering will permit color finalization and validation, the company reported.
Mango, the first company to use the PLM system, is rolling out the solution to more than 800 employees and suppliers involved in the design and development of the 70 million garments and accessories Mango produces annually. In other news, Lectra has opened its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, China, and also opened a new office in Tokyo to be closer to its 400-plus customers in Japan and to strengthen its presence in Asia.

GretagMacbeth Introduces Color 7

GretagMacbeth has launched Color 7, a fully automated spectrophotometer with embedded profiling for digital color control.
The spectrophotometer features a self-diagnostic function, periodically prompting the operator to verify performance, which can be affected by environmental conditions such as dust and humidity. If color drift is detected, the operator can correct the instrument on-site through NetProfilerÕ, GretagMacbeth's Internet-based software application, before taking more color measurements. This prevents bad data from entering the supply chain before production starts, reducing costly production errors and delays, the company reported.

Freeborders Names New CFO, Expands European Team

Freeborders, a technology outsourcing provider with a large presence in China, has appointed Paul Machle CFO. Machle has more than 20 years of corporate finance experience, and previously was vice president of finance for Exigen Group, a global business process solutions provider.
Freeborders also has appointed two former Deloitte & Touche executives to its European operations. Peter Bambridge joins as vice president, EMEA, and Tony King as vice president of operations and delivery, EMEA.

AATCC Announces Events, New Training CD

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) is producing the following events, and has released a new training CD.

l The Concept 2 Consumer (C2C) symposium, "High Performance in a High Performance Apparel World," will be held July 26-27 in Portland, OR. Among the speakers will be: Wanda Weller, Patagonia, on "Adaptation;" Mary Canton, Nike, on "Seasonal Trends;" Anshu Gupta, adidas, on "Fabric and Material Trends;" Eraina Duffy, Nike, on "Nike's Journey Toward Sustainable Product;" Karen Brandenburger, Hanna Andersson, on "Labeling & Regulatory Issues for Children's Apparel;" and Marina Wright, Levi, on "Quality Never Goes Out of StyleÕ 'Even When Style Goes Global." l A CAD/CAM technology symposium, AATCC's first since its acquisition last year of the Computer Integrated Textile Design Association (CITDA), will be June 22-23 at QVC's West Chester, PA, headquarters. The symposium, with a theme of "Global Design Initiative," will focus on design trends, color management and color matching systems, global sourcing challenges, innovative fabrics and technologies, design collaboration and image management, design using calibrated printing, virtual design and protecting designs in a global market.
l A new CD training module, "Water Resistance and Repellency," has been added to the AATCC's CD training series. It contains instructions for AATCC test methods: TM 22 Water Repellency: Spray Test; TM 35 Water Resistance: Rain Test; TM 42 Water Resistance: Impact Penetration Test; TM 70 Water Repellency: Tumble Jar Dynamic Absorption Test; TM 127 Water Resistance: Hydrostatic Pressure. To order the CD, call 919-549-3526, fax 919-549-8933 or e-mail [email protected] and specify No. 08731D. A Textile Technician Certification Program has been added to the AATCC's roster of educational offerings in India. For details or to register, contact Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan at +91-44-2615-1009 or [email protected].