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Just-in-time
manufacturing
While just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing has technically been a term that has existed since the 1960s, it has grown in applicability in recent decades. JIT manufacturing allows new businesses to get their product lines to market in days or weeks, rather than months. For larger organisations, it can mean rapid response to the fashion industry needs to meet seasonal demand. Seasonal variations can be on shelves on time, giving textile companies better ability to please their customers.
The shift toward digital printing can also mean improved inventory planning, resulting in less overstock and warehousing needs. As textile service providers move away from longer runs and shift toward short, varied, targeted production, they have been better able to match product to client need. Clothing can now be made as needed rather than in bulk order, letting companies spend less on inventory that may or may not sell. These capabilities ushered
in a new type of fabric suppliers:
On Demand manufacturers. These companies use a purchase activated manufacturing business model, whereby production commences only once an order is received and paid
for in advance. There are no finished goods in the warehouse – just blank raw materials.
Rise of On Demand
fabric manufacturing
With the supply chain being shortened using innovative
print technology and continued advancements in workflow, new players have been entering the space over the last several years, empowered by easy online tools that make it simple to start selling customized clothing commercially. These fit into the growing uses of e-commerce in the apparel industry at large, where continued growth will drive estimated revenues up
to $145bn by 2023 according to Statista’s 2018 digital market outlook.
Several suppliers epitomise this trend, pointing out to the need for customisation for a community of like- minded people and, on a larger scale, addressing the needs of the masses with diverse customised products.
Spoonflower has operations in the US (North Carolina) and Europe (Berlin), and has been serving the needs of creative and hobbyist markets for many years. The company has created a community of pattern designers that are linked to customers on the company’s multi-faceted platform. It can customise fabrics, wallcoverings, and wrappings on the Spoonflower site, while modifying home décor elements on the Roostery site.
The company makes use of digital print technology, including Kornit, for cotton and manmade
materials that require no extensive use of water for processing – namely pigment inks for cotton and sublimation for synthetics. A key to success for Spoonflower is
its on-going R&D, which looks for latest print and workflow solutions. The company also prioritises maintaining and improving its IT infrastructure, which allows for hundreds of thousands of jobs to
be processed annually – from small as 8x8” squares to multiple yards, per client needs. In the world of mass customisation, purchase activated manufacturing requires great attention to shop management and production tracking to ensure defect-free output and keep down the margin of error.
Another powerful new tool is Amazon Merch. One of the largest online retailers in the world, Amazon realised the potential in digital
DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING SET TO GROW AT 19% CAGR
■ GARMENT 61% ■ DECOR 35%
■ INDUSTRIAL 4%
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