Triumph International's color challenges in the era of modern manufacturing
The Group has over 36,000 employees worldwide, making it the most international company of its kind. TRIUMPH INTERNATIONAL products are sold in more than 125 countries around the world and worldwide sales exceed US$1.6 billion.

Triumph International's success as a global leader also created challenges in every aspect of operations, including color management. The company is committed to producing high quality apparel that appeals to distinct markets around the world - faster, and more efficiently. In regards to color, this commitment required extensive and sometimes expensive methods of getting the color reviewed and approved among many physical locations. Manufacturers like Triumph International traditionally relied on a physical standard against which a batch was matched. Not only was this physical standard costly in terms of time and money to send to different locations, but it also often restricted apparel designers who were not always able to find the "right" color. Alternatively, companies could issue custom color standards. Having a custom color standard ensured the designer of having the right color, but lead times were often substantial and costly.

According to Triumph International Overseas ltd. Research and Development Manager, Joerg Grieser, the company sought out the most advanced color technology to address these common challenges. Their number one goal was to "decrease lead time, save cost and improve efficiency," Grieser states.

Triumph International: leading the way, mind to market
Triumph International had already taken an important step in communicating color with suppliers. Physical samples sent by their suppliers were measured with a spectrophotometer and subsequently judged visually in a light box. Triumph International then sent their comments on the color by fax or email to the supplier and the sample was filed manually.

Like other leading enterprises around the world, Triumph International Overseas ltd. began to explore the power of web-based tools to improve the way color was created, reviewed and approved. They hoped to evaluate color electronically, communicate through email, and maintain color files by computer instead of manually. In other words, Triumph International Overseas ltd. wanted to create a virtual color information environment where they could partner with their suppliers and meet retailer expectations for color with the most efficiency. " We were looking for color technology that would streamline our entire color approval process," explains Grieser. "For example, we wanted to decrease the number of samples that we check, save costs such as courier charges for color submissions, shorten our lead time and communicate effectively with our suppliers, all without increasing the work force unnecessarily," he adds.

After an extensive search, Triumph International Overseas ltd. Purchasing and Quality Assurance Department discovered that a leading color technology developer, Datacolor, had adapted many of the best strategies of Internet-driven supply management. As a result, Datacolor developed Colorite, a complete computerized system for highly accurate digital color communication. The technology was designed to cut the cost of samples and development time in half, speed time to market, reduce costs, and ensure color quality.

The benefits of digital color among Triumph International and its suppliers

The purpose of electronic color control is not to duplicate efforts, but to streamline and enhance processes already in place. In this way, the new, Internet-based color communication system ensures quick and correct color approval throughout a typical supply chain. In this case, the Asian offices of Triumph International, Triumph International Overseas Ltd., is using Colorite to communicate with its suppliers in the following way:

· A sample is measured with a spectrophotometer at the supplier's laboratory/dye house.
· The sample and a color standard then appear as digital fabric images on the computer monitor, which has been calibrated for color accuracy.
· The supplier then electronically sends Triumph International Overseas ltd. by email its digital sample of the best possible color match. If it falls within a range of 0.8 color difference in the test result, the materials are accepted without further testing. If the match is not acceptable, more color matching is requested and is done by the supplier until Triumph International Overseas Ltd. considers the electronic trial sample acceptable.
· Triumph International Overseas ltd. does not receive on-color physical samples. Any necessary comments are returned directly via email and samples are filed directly in the corresponding archive.

In this new electronic method, color is assessed visually and communicated digitally. The receiver gets more than a set of numbers - rather, the receiver sees precisely the color on screen that corresponds to the colorimetric data. Similarly, visual tolerances are evaluated and set realistically. Everyone, for example, can see how far a particular spectrophotometer reading - such as 1.0 CMC unit - is from a particular color standard.

"We see a high potential in savings for the dye houses. They can process lab dips and also bulk dying/finishing without lengthy interruption because color comment is available very quickly, sometimes in minutes and certainly no longer than a few hours. Suppliers also save high courier charges. At Triumph International Overseas ltd., this new 'online color communication' has allowed us to decrease actual lead times in material procurement, high workload in color matching and filing," Grieser says.

From the bold recognizable color of a designer's insignia to the muted colors of the latest fashion shade, there are many reasons why color is difficult to reproduce. Chemicals in the dye process can change the color, so can the material on which color is applied. The subjective way we see and talk about color makes it very difficult to visualize and deliver an exact shade, as well. Leaders such as Triumph International are leveraging the latest color technology to remove these challenges to color production. The adoption of Colorite at Triumph International Overseas Ltd. is in keeping with the company's mission to produce high quality products and to extend its leadership in innovation and fashion into the next millennium.