Italy-based Epson Italia S.p.A., an Epson Group company, has entered into an agreement with the Robustelli family to acquire 100-percent of the capital of Fratelli Robustelli S.r.l. The two companies will focus on driving synergies and research and development efforts to bring a wider lineup of digital printing products to meet customers’ needs.
“Our cooperation with Epson led to the development of Monna Lisa, an industrial digital textile printer that is today a market benchmark for high-quality textile printing,” said Valerio Robustelli, one of the proprietors of F.lli Robustelli. “The combination of our respective skills is the natural conclusion of a process of innovation to satisfy customers in Italy and the rest of the world.”
“As the market for high-quality digital textile printing expands, I believe that formalizing our partnership with Robustelli in this way puts us in a great place to meet the needs of the growing numbers of customers who are seeking to leverage the advantages of advanced digital solutions that will help drive their businesses forward.,” said Sunao Murata, COO, Epson’s Professional Printing Operations Division.
Murata will be named president of Robustelli once the acquisition is complete.
Israel-based Delta Galil Industries Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement with Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corp. to acquire three premium contemporary brands — 7 For All Mankind®, Splendid® and Ella Moss® — for $120 million subject to various working capital adjustments. Delta Galil projects the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, will add more than $300 million to top line sales annually, and the deal is expected to be accretive to the company’s earnings in 2017.
“We are thrilled to be adding three renowned premium brands to our portfolio, as they further diversify our product offering and distribution channels, while adding significant strength to our structure,” said Isaac Dabah, CEO of Delta Galil.
“Earlier this year we said that we are taking a focused and proactive look at the composition of our business portfolio to ensure that we are well positioned to maximize VF’s growth and return to our shareholders,” said Eric Wiseman, chairman and CEO, VF Corp. “This announcement illustrates that our work as active portfolio managers is progressing.”
Denim from DNA’s new R3 Denim™ Collection features ECO2cotton® yarns manufactured by Jimtex Yarns.
Columbus, Ga.-based Denim North America (DNA), a division of DNA Textile Group, has introduced the R3 Denim™ sustainable collection made using certified ECO2cotton® yarns manufactured by Lincolnton, Ga.-based Jimtex Yarns, a division of Martex Fiber Southern Corp. ECO2cotton yarns are manufactured using pre-consumer, post-industrial cotton knit cuttings that have been discarded during the apparel cut-and-sew process.
“We are taking recycled a step further with the added benefit of performance to offer a sustainable yet functional modern denim,” said Lisa A. Harris, creative and marketing director, DNA. “Each pair of jeans made with R3Denim contains the equivalent of two recycled t-shirts.”
DNA and Martex will promote R3 Denim to customer, while emphasizing Martex’s “No Fiber Left Behind™” campaign that focuses on zero landfill.
Apparel left on the racks at retail often is sold at a deep discount, and some consumers have become accustomed to not paying full price in anticipation of these discounts.
Faster, smarter supply chains can limit retail discounts.
By David Sasso
In a perfect world, apparel stores would predict consumer demand with prophetic accuracy, order the exact inventory needed months in advance, and sell every item at full price, leaving customers delighted — and stocks depleted.
Of course, as retailers and brands well know, the world isn’t perfect. The whims of fashion change faster than the seasons, as customers chase hot new items and neglect yesterday’s trends. For many brands, their supply chains aren’t equipped to keep pace.
How Brands Get Stuck With Discounts And Stockouts
As products linger on the racks, companies slash prices to make them more compelling. In fact, the industry’s reliance on discounts has largely trained consumers to expect prices to drop, sending them straight to the sale section while sneering at full price items.
On the flip side, brands lucky enough to hit on a trending style may face frustrating stockouts — and leave disappointed customers looking elsewhere for a similar style. By the time their supply chain can replenish the hot item, fashion may have sprinted forward — forcing retailers to turn back to discounts to move last cycle’s winning inventory.
If you’re a brand or retailer, you understand the risks. Colors, designs, and weather-appropriate apparel fall in and out of fashion in a matter of weeks — order too much, and your investment rots; too little, and you leave easy money on the table.
Brands and retailers may be able to reduce speed-to-market lead time by leveraging the supply chain — focusing on relationships, strategy and location.
Supply Chain Solutions To Faster Fashion
The perfect solution to an imperfect world? Faster, smaller orders — and more of them. Why take the shotgun approach to your inventory when you could place well-timed, precise surgical strikes?
If you had the ability to restock in weeks instead of months, you could order everything in small amounts, see what’s selling, and respond to demand as you go, offering exactly what your consumers want at full price.
For many brands and retailers, a fast fashion model still feels like a pipe dream. With a traditional Asia-based supply chain, you’re looking at a 10- to 25-week waiting period on reorders. By focusing on relationships, strategy, and location, you may be able to cut your speed-to-market lead time down to 14-28 days.
Relationships: Communicate With The Entire Supply Chain
Too often, brands depend solely on their garment manufacturer, wary of making contact with the rest of the supply chain. “We only buy fabric,” they say, “why would we get involved with the yarn?” The answer, of course, is that you need the yarn to make the fabric.
If you only work through the fabric manufacturers, you’re relying on them for all sourcing decisions. Need a fast order? If you can’t get right yarn quickly enough, you’ll have to change suppliers, which changes the fabric — giving your customers an inconsistent experience and risking lost loyalty. Successful, fast fashion brands establish lines of communications with everyone along the supply chain, from yarn spinners and knitters to the partners who cut, sew, trim, and dye.
By opening up a dialogue with everyone involved, you can give them forewarning about rapid new orders, securing production and quality without sacrificing speed. This communication is especially critical when you’re working with specialty fabrics, like Supima Cotton®, Lenzing MicroModal® and Lenzing Micro TENCEL®.
Strategy: Pre-Position Yarn And Fabric
Here’s where small and medium brands have a distinct advantage in the world of fast fashion. If you only use a handful of yarns or fabrics, you can reliably predict that you’ll use a certain amount of each — even if you don’t yet know what the final product will be.
Work with your supply chain to pre-position your most widely used fabrics and yarns; by investing ahead of time, you’ll have the raw materials on hand and dramatically reduce your speed to market.
Just be sure not to pre-position colored fabric, as color tends to be the most unpredictable element of fashion — and the easiest to adapt to with undyed materials.
Location: React Faster With American-Made Products
Sourcing from U.S.-based companies doesn’t just ensure a higher quality product — it’s also dramatically faster to receive shipments. If you’re still tethered to an overseas supply chain, you’ll have to pay up for air freights or deal with ships that take several weeks. American producers also eliminate language barriers, making it easier to clearly communicate your requirements.
Here again, smaller brands have an advantage. While bigger companies are tied to Asian suppliers with equity partnerships and investments, more agile brands are free to source in the United States and reap the benefits: speed, quality, and communication.
The Result: Affordable Fast Fashion
With these strategies in place, brands can enjoy significantly faster speed-to-market times of mere weeks. With a strong, smart, and nimble supply chain, you’re free to make smaller, faster orders to capitalize on the latest trends while curbing discounts and stockouts.
It’s not just a winning business strategy; it’s a path to greater peace of mind. By relying on your entire supply chain to guarantee rapid production, you can stop and start as the market demands without worrying about excess waste — and offer your consumers the products they want today.
Editor’s Note: David Sasso is vice president of International Sales at Jefferson, Ga.-based Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.; buhleryarns.com.
Creytex specializes in apparel manufacturing. Photographs courtesy of Inexmoda
Colombia-based garment manufacturer Creytex produces its own brands and offers full-package production for other brands.
By Dr. Virgilio L. González, Latin America Correspondent, Textiles Panamericanos
Creytex is a vertically integrated Colombia-based textile company that specializes in garment manufacturing. Most of the company’s production is exported to the United States. Founded in 1971 by Bernardo Bustamante and his wife Alba Montoya in Medellin, the company has developed two business models — full-package production for well-known brands, and production of its own Belife and Baby Planet brands.
Production Processes
The company uses knitting machines from Japan-based Fukuhara Industrial & Trading Co. Ltd. Yarns used in the knitting process are produced in Colombia and North American. Creytex knits fine yarns in a variety of fiber types including cotton, polyester, viscose, spandex, bamboo and predyed blends.
The company dyes fabrics using disperse and reactive dyeing techniques as well as pigments. Finishing techniques employed include chemical and mechanical finishing to impart wicking, hydrophobic and antibacterial properties; ultraviolet protection; and dirt and oil repellency among other finishes. All finishes are designed to comply with export standards.
Product design and development is conducted by a team of highly qualified graphic and fashion designers as well as pattern makers, tech designers, cost analysts and specialists that create the designs customers request.
Creytex uses automated machinery from Italy-based Morgan Tecnica S.p.A. for cutting and fabric extension. Floating tables allow fabric for the 17,000 units cut each day to be moved without impacting fabric quality.
The tailoring department is capable of multitasking throughout the sewing process. Most installed sewing machines are from Japan-based Brother Industries Ltd. Creytex also has pneumatic, electronic and automated machines that reduce production time for each garment.
Creytex also has capabilities for product decoration including screen printing, embroidery and dye sublimation printing. Dye sublimation offers an increased color spectrum and intensity, allows polychromatic designs as well as application on top of garments without muddying or staining with excellent graphic definition.
Creytex’s believes its successful business model lies on:
Fast response time — lead times start at 45 days;
Flexibility — production orders start at 600 units per color and 1,200 per style and in decoration, 72 units can be produced per graphic art; and
Innovation — the company continuously investigates new fabrics, textile blends and fibers while applying the latest technology and textile finishes.
In addition, Creytex has also achieved high quality standards, garnered international certifications. The company’s clients include Champion, Columbia, Sports Wear, Reef, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Disney, Under Armour and VF Corp. Exports to the United States account for 70-percent of total exports with Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Ecuador making up the remaining 30 percent. Creytex’s 450 employees make 350,000 garment units per month, and the installed plant capacity allows for future growth.
Nester Hosiery, Mount Airy, N.C., has promoted company President Kelly Nester to CEO. Marty Nester will continue to lead the company’s Board of Directors.
Yorkville, Ill.-based Aurora Specialty Textiles Group Inc. has appointed John Schuster director of plant operations. The company also has hired Eric Lahoy as print media, Western Region sales representative.
Effective July 31, 2016, Rohit Aggarwal will succeed Paul Hulme as president of Huntsman’s Textile Effects division, Singapore.
Spartanburg, S.C.-based Leigh Fibers has promoted Daniel Mason to vice president of sales and purchasing.
As part of a leadership succession plan, HanesBrands, Winston-Salem, N.C., has named current Chairman and CEO Richard A. Noll executive chairman; and current COO Gerald W. Evans Jr. CEO. Both appointments will take effect October 1, 2016. In addition, Evans was named to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Choussy Bedouet
Paris-based Lectra has named chief marketing and communications officer Céline Choussy Bedouet to the Executive Committee effective July 1, 2016.
The Board of Directors at New York City-based Simparel Inc. has named president Roberto Mangual company CEO.
England-based Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) has appointed Trevor Larkins president.
Dodgeville, Wis.-based Lands’ End has appointed Becky Gebhardt to executive vice president and chief marketing officer. In addition, Mike Zhang joined the company as vice president, E-Commerce, Digital Marketing and Innovation; and Mike Holahan was promoted to senior vice president, Multi-Channel Marketing.
Germany-based eurolaser has redesigned its website located at eurolaser.com. The new site provides technical details about the company’s laser systems including illustrations and videos, and is viewable in 15 languages.
Summerville, S.C.-based Thrace LINQ Inc. has achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality management system.
Italy-based Comau S.p.A. was presented the GM Platinum Award for outstanding performance at the GM Annual Supplier IMPACT meeting hosted by General Motors in Southfield, Mich.
Atlanta-based MesseFrankfurt Inc. has announced the 14th edition of Techtextil will be held June 20-22, 2017, at McCormick Place, Lakeside Center, Chicago. The show will again collocate with JEC Americas. The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta will host Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas May 22-24, 2018.
Berkeley, Calif.-based BeBop Sensors Inc. was included in a list of “Cool Vendors” in the “Cool Vendors in Using IoT-Enabled Humans Instead of Robots, 2016” report released by Gartner Inc.
Sawgrass has added fluorescent yellow and pink inks to the SubliJet-HD C, M, Y, KXF, Lc and Lm ink configuration.
Charleston-based Sawgrass Inc. has introduced SubliJet-HD fluorescent inks for the Virtuoso 25-inch, eight-color product decorating system featuring the VJ 628 printer.
Italy-based Kiian Digital, a JK Group brand, has received Nike’s Restricted Substance List (RSL) Certification for its Digistar HI-PRO Series of inks designed for transfer sublimation printing.
Germany-based Oerlikon Neumag has sold a nonwovens meltblown plant to a customer in Western Europe, which marks the second nonwoven plant Oerlikon Neumag has sold within just a few months. The line will be inaugurated commercially during the first half of 2017.
“The successes of the last few years demonstrate that we have not only secured our pioneering role with the constant further development of our market-leading meltblown technology, we have actually managed to expand it”, explains Axel Becker, Sales Director Nonwoven at Oerlikon Neumag. “With our technology, our customers develop trailblazing products, hence strengthening their position within the global market and developing the products of the future with this technology.”
Italy-based Santoni S.p.A. reports it will sell its SWD warp knitting technology to Japan-based Nippon Mayer Ltd., a Germany-based Karl Mayer Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH company. Mayer will acquire the complete range of products including patents and equipment, as well as the complete stock of machinery and spare parts. In addition, Nippon Mayer has assumed responsibility for servicing previously installed machines. According to Karl Mayer, it will integrate the SWD technology into its double needle bar competence center in Japan.
Moving forward, Santoni will concentrate on advancing its core circular knitting business.
Germany-based Wacker Chemie AG has introduced WETSOFT® NE 750 softener for textile use. According to the company, the silicone fluid formula improves the softness of the textile while also retaining the ability to absorb water — a property that is desired in finished goods such as towels.
Wetsoft NE 750 is comprised of block copolymers based on aminofunctional silicones and polyglycol. The fluid silicone segments form free-moving loops on the outside of a fabric to reduce friction between fibers, whereas the polyglycol segments render the silicone finish permeable to water. Wacker reports that testing shows textiles treated with Wetsoft NE 750 have a soft and pleasing hand.
The product is sold in a water-free concentrate form. It is self-emulsifying and may be diluted with water in a ratios between 1:1 and 1:5 to form a stable emulsion. It is suitable for finishing both cotton fabrics and polyester blends.
