Digital technologies, particularly the Internet, are reshaping the landscape of the industry at lightening speed. To demonstrate the enormous power of the integration and connectivity of digital technologies throughout the supply chain, [TC]2 and The Bobbin Group teamed up to present "The Digital Zone" at the recent Bobbin Show in Atlanta, GA. Showcasing technologies for digital printing, digital knitting, digital dressing, digital fit and digital business technologies that enable the design, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of products, The Digital Zone offered a glimpse of solutions supporting a shortened product development cycle, a reduction in development costs, and customized product.

It’s Not Business as Usual

While the range of "Digital Business Technologies," was broad, they all had one common thread – collaboration via the Internet. Pre-Internet, technology solutions mandated compatible software, hardware and operating systems that had to reside in-house. Many of the new business technologies featured at Bobbin simply require an Internet connection and a standard web browser to interface with solutions that are offered on a lease or subscription arrangement. This new business model used for delivering software solutions causes software vendors to become service providers, or what is commonly referred to as ASPs ( Application Service Providers).

Ai of Camden Maine, developers of communication tools for the industry, introduced AiFabric, a collaborative web based solution that manages the fabric development and approval process between all trading partners in the supply chain. The capabilities supported include the ability to view specs by all trading partners, the management of fabric standards, test methods and vendor conformance, the ability to view fabric catalogs, multi-level searching on a variety of parameters, product tracking, reports, on-line communication and global sourcing.

Assyst-Bullmer of Kennesaw, GA, developers of complete CAD/CAM solutions for the soft goods industry, introduced automarker.com, a new service for registered assyst-bullmer customers providing automatic marker making over the Internet. Customers can upload unlaid marker files from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection and download the completed markers within minutes. The service is available 24/7. It offers industry-quality marking that the company claims is as good as manually laid markers.

Merchandise tracking and anti-counterfeit technology takes on a new dimension with solutions from M-Tac of Bedford, NH. The company has licensed 2D DataMetrix coding technology that creates permanent, unobtrusive (as in tiny), irremovable and laundry-safe product identity. Available for use in weaving, dot-peen, print and embroidery, the 2D coding is far more difficult to duplicate and easier to scan than conventional barcodes. The coding contains built-in redundancy. Up to 35% of the code can be defaced and it will still scan. Information such as SKU, vendor ID, port of entry, cut#, po# and customer ID can all be found in a code that measures less than a quarter of an inch. The stand-alone technology supports monitoring systems that are totally portable and can be deployed anywhere.

The Metamediaries Group, a division of tmgiweb.com of Atlanta, GA enables eCommerce, eMarkets and eBusinesses through its fully-managed and hosted (ASP) suite of solutions for all its constituents: Retailers, Wholesalers, Manufacturers and Suppliers. Their NetMarketPlaces (eg www.metamarketplace.com) enable Order fulfillment, Order status, Pick-Pack-Ship, Credit limits, Payment application, Goods Return Requests, etc all in realtime-online and/or integration with back-end legacy systems.

Quick TruCost© from Methods Workshop of Atlanta, GA is a new Windows® software system that provides quick and accurate labor costing for new sewn products at the initial design stage of development. By answering 8 to 16 questions about the product and its construction, such as sew inches, seam count, number of buttonholes and buttons, number of parts, etc., Quick TruCost© promises to provide costing estimates within 10% accuracy.

Nester Software Technologies of Tel Aviv, Israel has added e-Nester to its list of marker nesting solutions. E-Nester is an automatic nesting service available to any company who has an Internet browser and access to the Web. The NESTER brand will be accessible to any CAD system through the DXF pattern data exchange and the Internet. e-Nester provides access on a pay-as-you-go basis, making the technology available for any nesting need and volume level.

Pulse Microsystems of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada demonstrated StitchPort™ , their new embroidery e-commerce solution. By integrating a range of e-services through a web browser, StitchPort provides an interactive and entertaining method of creating, customizing and visualizing embroidery designs over the Internet. Visitors can upload their own designs, or select from the online library. They can add text and change colors. Estimated stitch count and approximate selling price information is available. A realistic 3D representation of the design is displayed on a garment of choice, allowing visitors to verify and approve the design. Digitizing and punching services are available if needed.

It’s Not Production as Usual

In the industrial age, the analog technology driving the industry mandated a mass production business model in order to offset the significant set-up and labor costs required. Today’s digital technology supports innovative production capabilities that can support short run production that is not only economical, but time saving.



WholeGarment® from Shima Seiki of Wakayama, Japan opens up a whole new world of knitwear opprotunities. By knitting WholeGarment products in one entire piece, it is possible to eliminate the labor-intensive cutting and sewing processes, leading to significant savings in time and cost. Cut-loss is eliminated as well. The bulkiness resulting from stitching at the shoulders and underarms is eliminated, offering superior comfort and wearability. In addition, since WholeGarment can be produced one garment at a time, the leadtime usually needed to knit each part for the required number of garments is shortened. With WholeGarment technology, the required number of items can be knit immediately, permitting true "on-demand" knit production.

Lectra Systems of Marietta, GA presented their digital supply chain solution for textile printing by demonstrating the integration between CAD systems, digital pattern and marker making, digital printing and digital cutting. Using U4ia for print design or Primivision for knit and weave designs (for sample development), designs are brought into Modaris, where they could be engineered on the pattern pieces and grading rules applied. Diamo creates the marker, which was printed, including the print design on the pattern pieces, on the Stork Amber printer. The printed pattern pieces are then cut on the ProSpint single ply cutter.

"Although the Amber is really a sampling machine, this demonstration allowed us to introduce the idea of inkjet in relation to the digital supply chain," states Kerry Maguire King of TC2. "We want to plant the seed that as inkjet technology develops, it will be integrated with CAD and single ply cutting for a continuous, on-demand print solution. In the mean time, digital printing is being adopted as a digital tool for product development and rapid prototyping."

It’s Not Fitting As Usual

The research paints a tremendous market opportunity. 62% of shoppers feel they can’t find clothes that fit well and 36% of them claim they would pay more for better fitting clothes. Judging by the number of new solutions being offered to address these issues, the hot technology at the Bobbin Show 2000 was most decidedly 3D virtual modeling.

Gerber Technology of Tolland, CT introduced APDS-3D, a Windows® NT pattern visualization system that allows pattern makers to select patterns from a file library, modify them in two or three dimensions using exact body measurements, and then instantly redrape the revised patterns in 3D. By inputting fabric colors and designs with a scanner or digital camera, the program can create a virtual garment sample.

Gerber also demonstrated the New Web Draping add-on modUle to Artworks StudIo.™ This Internet enabled solution allows for online drag and drop desiGn for usE by the consumer for companies offering mass customized product. Supporting pre-defined product, color and print choices, the consumer is able to design their custom product online.

Image Twin™, a web-enabled, three-dimensional digital body scanning and measurement system is being offered as a joint venture between TC2 and Truefunds.com, Inc. Using ordinary white light, the Image Twin scanner captures over 300,000 data points in just twelve seconds. The system creates a 3-D "body cloud" that is an exact representation of the customer. It uses the data to extract dozens of sizing measurements. Using this data, customers can order custom garments to their precise measurements and eliminate the errors attributed to manual measuring.

As a means towards their goal of establishing themselves as the global standard in sizing technology, the company has expressed ambitious plans to put scanning booths in retails stores and shopping malls across the nation. They are currently testing a system in a health club in Cary, NC, and plan to put a mobile scanning van on the road later this year.

PAD System Technologies of Montreal, Canada, continues to expand its line of pattern and marker making solutions for Windows® and Macintosh® operating systems with the introduction of 3D Virtual Pattern. The program will render any 2-dimensional pattern in 3D on a customizable dress form, which has excellent application for use in made-to-measure and mass customization. It supports a color and texture library that allows the user to design in 3D using a simple drag and drop from the library.

Reflection Fabrix Inc. of Playa Del Rey, CA presented FabriX, a comprehensive cloth simulator for use in 3D animation. Owner Shawna Olwen, whose business card title reads "Woman of the Cloth," has developed her third party plug-in for Softimage® based upon many years of Hollywood film experience. She created all of the garment animations for the film Titanic. FabriX realistically simulates the delicate movements and dramatic shifts of warp and weft from fluid to rigid cloth. The technology automatically stitches separate pieces together to form a seamless garment which is then treated as one surface in the simulation.

Yourfit.com of New York, NY, an infrastructure provider enabling real-time customized merchandising, presented the Virtual Dressing Room. VDR allows online consumers to try clothing on a fully accurate computer-generated model of themselves. Consumers create a profile by entering a few simple measurements and selecting a body type from a group of models that match those measurements. With this information, yourfit.com extrapolates all missing measurements and creates an accurate virtual model of the consumer. Yourfit.com uses actual garment information, including exact dimensions and fabric properties, to present a photo-realistic image of the consumer wearing the garment. The consumer can rotate the image to view it from multiple angles, zoom in to see garment details, and mix-and-match items, all in true relative color.

A Vision of the Future

With "digital" and "virtual" becoming a part of every day vocabulary in the industry, the question begging to be asked is "what’s the reality of virtual clothing?" I don’t mean clothing that is digitally rendered onscreen, but clothing that is digitally rendered on our bodies. Is it inconceivable that future technologies will allow us to place chips in our shoes that will transmit holograms across our bodies – resulting in a completely digital garment?

Imagine if you will, your closet of clothing is stored on your Palm Pilot, allowing you to have your entire wardrobe with you at all times (sans shoes) and to share your outfits with admirers similarly equipped. The technology will allow you to adjust the fit, length, color and drape to your own specifications. Integrated circuitry will allow you to adjust the temperature for your own virtual ecosystem.

Of course, this begs all kinds of issues. Would the clothing industry be simply a targeted market for the software industry, as the need for actual fabric is reduced or eliminated? Would the industry have copyright and distribution problems similar to those now facing the movie and record industries? Would heating and air conditioning companies be the new distributors, featuring individual customized environments?

While I probably wouldn’t want to go snow skiing in a virtual garment, and swimming might be difficult on the circuitry, the big question is, would we still need underwear?