The Technology Corner

I'm still getting used to the feel of a fork and knife at mealtime, after almost three weeks of chopstick use. Proving the adaptability of the human species, I actually came to prefer the sticks, and continued their use after returning home. The use of stainless steel chopsticks in Korea required some getting used to, but aside from the weight, and a slightly more difficult grip, they were good and exemplified the conservation mind-set of the Korean people. I also found the different materials in Hong Kong, Southern China and Taiwan to be interesting, too, although none used metallic material except on very fancy sticks that had a brass ferrule on the top end.

The trip to Korea , Hong Kong, Southern China, Taiwan and Shanghai was to discuss technology and business, global economics, and to gather the thoughts of business leaders and technologists. Mike Fralix, president of [TC]² and I were treated warmly by all we visited. My opening paragraph on chopsticks is a result of the many formal lunches and dinners we enjoyed, and the gracious welcome provided by each of our hosts. We are very appreciative of the time spent with us, and the knowledge that we gained by the open dialog and frank discussions.

In order to provide mention of all of our experiences, deep coverage of a topic will not be done this month. Future columns will add depth to certain technologies, or the thoughts of business people. Drawing from over thirty pages of computer notes, this may sound more like a travelogue than a technology column, but here goes…

First stop was Seoul , South Korea . Arriving in the remnants of a typhoon, we saw huge amounts of rain as we taxied from Incheon Airport to Seoul . Our planned visit to Yuhan-Kimberly's DTP Center provided much information on the state of digital printing. This thirty-plus year old joint venture between Yuhan Corporation and Kimberly-Clark seemed a natural place to further develop technology for textile printing. According to Tim McCraw, the synergy between the team members could not be better. A strong work ethic among team members coupled with a mission to which each person is dedicated contributes to a highly effective development group. Much of what we were shown is covered by NDA and will not be detailed. We can say that Y-K is currently providing textile ink sets that are very robust, and are also coating fabrics on a custom developed line to apply pre-treatment chemicals to a variety of fabrics. With some fabrics inventoried and also coating customer provided fabrics, the consistency and quality produced here are without equal. Printers bearing the DTP Link brand, as well as the DuPont Artistri 2020 machine are offered, along with software by DP Innovations, making up a complete design and print environment. We visited a well-known artist, Soo-Nam Kim in her studio. She paints original works of art on fabric. These pieces are priced in the thousands of dollars ( US ), and are highly creative. The originals are then scanned and are reproduced using the DTP Link system. These more affordable copies are scaled for different purposes, and are accurate reproductions of the original art. We made many friends during our four days in Seoul , and look forward to reciprocal visits later this year.

While in Seoul , we visited the Size Korea offices and met with Dr. Yunja Nam who is the Chief Manager of the Survey, and Dr. So-Young Joo, Senior Researcher for the Agency for Technology and Standards. Both of these ladies greeted us warmly, and we exchanged our experiences with SizeUSA and their Size Korea survey. They are experiencing good response from the Korean population, and are pleased with the way their survey is going.

From Seoul , we traveled to Hong Kong . The train from the new airport provides seamless delivery from airport to hotel through the use of buses from the train station that drop off at major hotels. Fast, inexpensive and efficient, using street transport for only the last mile or two, it is a pleasant experience for the traveler.

Arrangements had been made by Alan Lee, Director of the Clothing Industry Training Authority , CITA for travel to Guangzhou and Hoizhou. Alan picked us up at our hotel on Thursday morning for a brief visit to CITA. From CITA to the train station was just a few minutes by car, and we were off to Guangzhou . Alex Kung of TPC met us at the Kowloon station to accompany us to the Apparel Cyber Tech Center at Guangzhou University . More on Alex and his development in a later paragraph. Lunch was the order of the day, as it was around one thirty when we arrived at the area near the university. Served a very nice lunch in a private room at a restaurant, it was hard to leave the cool air conditioned space. The Apparel Cyber Tech Center is a joint effort of government and industry. The building in which it is housed had not been renovated for forty years. The updates and remodeling that had been done showed a commitment to training the industry specialists of tomorrow, with a computer CAD classroom, several design studios and a Techmath body scanner. Students were working in an air conditioned studio, fitting muslin parts that had been designed with an earlier TPC CAD system. The muslins that would become garment patterns fit very nicely, with foundation garments, formal gowns, blouses and skirt in evidence. The staff at the center was very welcoming and showed pride in the renovation that was under way. Director Shi Hua and Deputy President Wu Zhi Ping told us of the center's formation and operations. A fierce storm brought a deluge just as we were preparing to leave. After a wait of a half hour, with no let-up in sight, we boarded our jumbo taxi and drove out into the street. There, people were peddling bicycles in curb deep water, with poncho-like rain gear that covered the front basket, rider and rear luggage rack of the bicycle. With a rain hat in place, they slowly made their way along the flooded streets, taking in stride the heavy afternoon rain.

Friday morning, a three hour ride, and a couple of wrong turns brought us to Hui Zhou, also in Donguan province. We stopped at the new city hall, a very modern building, to await our escort to Glorious Sun, who owns JeansWest shops and makes jeans at the plant we visited. Xie Gui Hua and Chen Li Xiang would be our hosts at JeansWest, and would accompany us in the afternoon to another company, Virtue, a unit of Fushen Group.

The Glorious Sun factory made jeans on several floors of a multi-story building, and with a laundry in another building in back, completed stone, enzyme and other washes before returning the jeans to the pressing and packing floor of the main building. After a lunch in a nice restaurant, we drove in two vehicles to a shopping area where a JeansWest shop was located. We looked at the goods in the store, but because we were of a size not often seen in China , they had no jeans or shirts that would fit any of us. We left the shopping area, which was adjacent to a placid lake with clear blue water and green trees surrounding, bound for Virtue. I had a distinct feeling of déjà vu as we drove into the industrial park where Virtue was located. I was remembering a prior visit to another industrial park, where the layout, including trees, planted median and paved concrete streets were the same. I realized that since the government of China was investing in these industrial areas, that there would be many with similar look and feel.

We were greeted warmly at Virtue, by their Administration Director, Li Qui Guang, and later joined by the resident professor, David Sun. This company is located in a beautiful new building with granite floors and suspended stairs to the second and third floor with a large open atrium reception hall. The factory is just as nice, with windows all around and granite floors on which the carts carrying product would move. They are quite progressive in technology, with CAD, plotters and a number of pattern development stations in an air conditioned design department. Their tailored clothing is of very good quality, and the stitching and workmanship across a broad line of conventional and ceremonial clothing is of fine detail. It was hard to leave the gracious welcome that we were afforded. This company is preparing to enter the US market, and has good products with which to begin.

Another three hours in the jumbo taxi and a train ride had us back to Hong Knog around nine o'clock on Friday night. Passing many new buildings as we drove to Shenzen, I wondered what would be manufactured when they were occupied. Dormitories adjacent were ready to receive new workers when the company was ready to begin operations. This scene is repeated all along the highways of Southern China .

Saturday we met with Alexandre Kung at TPC. Alex has developed a 3D design environment for new product development that is quite impressive. It uses the data from 3D scans of live fit models, and produces patterns with the appropriate ease and fit. Data sets must be reviewed before the pattern is produced, which requires about a half hour. Trained operators are doing about fifteen to twenty sets per day. Plans include a demonstration of PPG as the Parametric Pattern Generator is known, in the [TC]² demonstration center. We met with Alex and his team again on Sunday to ensure that we saw everything, and to discuss mutual interests.

On Monday we had meetings with key apparel executives, followed by a visit to the Hong Kong Productivity Council headquarters. I will cover this visit in more detail in a later column.

Tuesday was seminar day at CITA. The staff at CITA had advertised and invited about one hundred twenty guests to hear a seminar on the state of the art of 3D, presented by a line-up that included this writer, Mike Fralix and Alexandre Kung. This was a morning long seminar, with meetings following. This also would be our last night to stay in Hong Kong, and we were to have dinner with a special friend who lives in a large apartment overlooking Repulse Bay . The evening was very special, ending with a dinner of Thai food at a restaurant on the property.

Wednesday was departure day for Taiwan , arriving before the promised second typhoon of the trip. We would see the typhoon's rain and winds on Friday, making departure on Saturday doubtful. As soon as we were situated in the Hotel in Taipei , we were picked up by two ladies from Taiwan Textile Federation, Christine Kao, and Vanessa Lin. A technical textile seminar was under way at the Grand Hotel, specializing in medical textile treatments and finishes of nano-technology. Anti-microbial, and anti-bacterial finishes, as well as fibers with shaped channels to carry perspiration away from the body more quickly were developments of Frank L. Chen and Wu-Hsun Cheng, both PhDs, Director and Chairman of Industrial Technology Research Institute. After some light shopping at the Grand Hotel, we taxied to the Howard plaza where we would again be met by Vanessa Lin for dinner. Another grand dinner with dignitaries from TTF and China Textile Institute brought this evening to a close.

Thursday we presented seminars on SizeUSA and the Digital Supply Chain, with both topics in the morning done in English, and following lunch, repeated both topics again with sequential translation done by Marilyn Hsu, soon to retire from TTF. With that obligation out of the way, we would visit companies on Friday, as well as a visit to China Textile Institute. The typhoon was late in arriving, but the winds were kicking up as we headed for our hotel, tired and ready for a dinner meeting with YoungWoo Lee of Yuhan Kimberly.

Melissa Wang, who had been in attendance at the dinner on Wednesday night, met us at the hotel on Friday morning to accompany us to our first visit, with Formosa Taffeta Company. There we met Mr. James M.C. Lee, a senior vice president, who gave us the company background, and showed samples of the goods produced by FTC. The company is the largest producer of textiles in Taiwan , and is successful, in part by introducing into its line, thirty percent new products each year. This company also utilizes nano technology to add water repellency, enhance breathability, add anti- microbial and bacteriostatic properties, or insect repellant properties to the fibers that make up its fabrics.

Formal written invitations had been delivered to our hotel by Vanessa Lin requesting our presence at a dinner on Friday evening, to be held at a resort in the mountains, hosted by Alex Lo of SuperTex Textile. We would visit his factory in the afternoon, but before that, the China Textile Institute.

CTI is located in several buildings with a drive-up area that cuts through lawns in front. We saw little of the exterior though, because of the rain that had begun as we traveled the hour or so from downtown Taipei . Thomas Huang is the Chairman of CTI. We were joined for lunch by its president, two vice presidents some directors and several of key researchers, who will be named in a future column. The institute is quite impressive, with research under way in color science, digital printing, body scanning and measurement, and a number of fiber related projects. Its budget is approximately equivalent to $3 million US dollars. They manage to get a lot of work done in the institute for that budget.

The rain was really coming down as we left CTI, and while en route, Melissa got a phone call to advise that tonight's dinner had been moved into Taipei, due to the typhoon approaching, and that the mountain resort would not be good in such weather. As we approached Super Tex, about two blocks away, a man was standing on the corner with an umbrella, awaiting our arrival. He motioned in the direction of a right turn and after ensuring that we would go to the end of the street, he followed. It was John Lo, the brother of Alex Lo, and was just a first indication of the high class operation that is Super Tex.

After shaking off the rain, we entered the Super Tex lobby, and immediately posed for pictures. We didn't know at the time, but this was one of the extra touches that Alex and his team had planned. Upstairs to a conference room, where we stashed our bags, and were offered tea. Following tea we began a tour of the facility where circular knit fabrics are made, then to an inspection area where 100% inspection of all goods is done, observing that the inspected rolls are fully bagged in plastic with a label on each end bearing a bar code and a 2D bar code, allowing traceability of any roll back to its yarn origin. In a value added section of the plant, a Lectra CNC cutter was cutting component parts for a customer from fabric made by Super Tex. In another area, blankets for Singapore Airlines were being edged with overedge machines, folded, and bagged for packing into cartons. Each step was carefully recorded for traceability. This factory is ISO 9002 and 14000 certified. The practices used in daily operations are evidence of such attention to detail. Outside the heavy rain continued as we passed open doors with open covered areas connecting the second floor of the building with the second floor of another building behind.

The tour arrived at a conference area that was in the plant, with tables and chairs arranged in a “U” configuration, facing a screen at one end of the space. We were again offered tea as we gathered for a presentation. The three notebook computers each had wireless cards, and the video projector was also wireless. The presentation was made by Alice Chen, who, along with colleague Jack Wang had attended our seminar on the previous day, and had reported back to Alex the content of our presentations. Now it was her turn, and she executed the presentation in English flawlessly. Mike and I gave a standing ovation. She had been advised only the day before that she would present, and had spent most of the previous night practicing. At the conclusion of the presentation, we were presented with printed, laminated copies of the photo that had been taken in the lobby an hour before. We were asked to comment on what we had seen, and the comments were recorded by another lady with a notebook computer, and were projected on screen for our review. With some minor revision, the comments were sent to a printer, and we signed each page as testimony to our comments, and to provide the record of conversation for future reference. This company is really a class act. The use of technology and systems is very impressive.

In normal weather we would have been about forty-five minutes by car from Taipei . We boarded John Lo's van, as our arrival van had been dismissed, and began the drive into Taipei . Almost two hours later, after crawling through extremely heavy traffic, we arrived at the Ambassador Hotel. A private dining room awaited, with several invited guests, including James Yang and Arthur Chen of Texma, Jeff Chen, Melissa Wang, Justin Huang, Hsiang-Yin Lin, all of TTF, and Thomas Huang of CTI. This dinner was sponsored by Alex Lo, and like all that his company does, the dinner was first class. Special menus were presented to each guest, outlining the many courses that would be served. After social pleasantries were completed, the diners sat down to begin the meal. Hours later the meal had been consumed, and individual speeches made by many of the participants. Our guest, YoungWoo Lee, from Taiwan asked to speak in Chinese, a language he had been studying, then made additional comments in English, a third language for him, resulting in applause from all. As the evening ended, we departed in the car of Thomas Huang, whose driver was standing by to load us into the car under a canopy, avoiding most of the rain.

Back at the hotel, no sleep yet. Packing was imperative, since we would leave the next morning at 4:45 am.

Next stop, Hong Kong, then on to Shanghai . Arriving at Shanghai Pudong Airport , the lines for immigration were long, but moved reasonably well. We had been told of a magnetically levitated train that ran between Shanghai and the airport, so as technologists, it was not to be missed. We didn't miss the train, since one runs at approximate intervals of twelve minutes. However, the ride was over almost before we started. Traveling at 460 Km per hour, the twenty plus mile trip took only five minutes. I couldn't believe we had arrived as the train slowed before stopping at the station. The ride was incredibly smooth, with magnetic suspension and propulsion, probably using a lot of kilowatts, but is a fantastic ride.

On Monday we were to meet with professor Wei Yuan Zhang at Dong Hua University . We arrived on time, and found Dr. Zhang in a multi-story tower that dominated the center of the campus. After discussion of some research that he has done, and the global business outlook, we retired to another building to see the 3D body scanner by [TC]² that has been at the university for two years. The professor and students have done proprietary studies for a foundation garment maker, bringing more than two thousand people from all parts of China to be scanned. Dr Zhang hosted a lunch for us at the University Hotel where a restaurant with private dining rooms served the traditional Chinese meal, with more food than can be eaten. We enjoyed the meal with Dr Zhang, Professor Supervisor Chen Jia-Xun, and graduate student Fang Fang.

By prior arrangement we were joined by T.K. Louie of Gerber Technologies who would be our host for the afternoon. A Gerber van with driver was waiting, and we took our leave from the University hosts.

Stopping first at Gerber's office, we were shown that with expansion, they are cramped for space, having moved out demonstration equipment to make room for office cubicles, and are adding still more people in the coming weeks. They will be working in very tight quarters until September, when the new Gerber offices are to be completed. The new offices are located in a new office park to the west of downtown. In a nicely landscaped park, new buildings continue to rise from the earth, modern, new construction befitting the high tech clients that will occupy the space. The Gerber offices will occupy two floors of a building still being fitted out.

We toured the space, were shown where a planned 3D scanner by [TC]² would be located in the demonstration area, and saw offices and conference rooms being plastered by workers who actually sleep in mosquito netted bamboo mats on the floor of semi-finished offices. The office of the president housed two beds, while other rooms had several more. The pressure is on to complete the offices in time for an open house that will be held in conjunction with CISMA in September.

Following the visit to the new facility, we were returned to our hotel to clean off the construction dust, and get ready for dinner that evening. I'll not elaborate on dinner except to say that it was very nice, and was at a high quality restaurant, in a private room. I'll remember that dinner for some time, as it was the first in which the delicacy, duck tongues were served. Yes, I did eat the duck tongues.

The next morning began a twenty-eight hour journey home. For almost three weeks, we had traveled on airlines that we had not flown before, on trains, boats, and all types of ground conveyance, and had no problem with lost bags or inferior service. Clearing customs in Atlanta , we had one final leg of the trip. Bags checked, with almost two hours before departure, it was going to be good to be home. Arriving at RDU airport, we waited for our bags for forty-five minutes before being told that the bags were not on the plane. Two and one half hours later, the bags arrived on a later flight. Such irony! After more than eighteen thousand miles, the domestic airline could not finish the last seven hundred miles without error.

Many people are mentioned by name in the story above. It was our privilege to meet many fine people while on the trip, I feel it is important to say that if you are not mentioned, it is not a purposeful omission. Future stories will introduce some of the researchers and business leaders that we visited.

Next month I'll provide more detail on certain technologies mentioned above, and will not mention dinner or lunch again!

On Friday 22 July, I'll be in New York City taking part in the AAFA/Tower Associates/[TC]² seminar on RFID. As moderator of the panel discussion, I'll get to ask the hard questions… and will be reporting on the seminar's key findings in the next newsletter.