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A Chinese online retailer will use drones as couriers. The planes will carry consumer goods to remote areas and farm produce to cities.
JD.com is China’s biggest online retailer and operates its own nationwide network of thousands of delivery stations manned by 65,000 employees. The company has 235 million regular customers. The company’s first-quarter revenue rose 41.2 per cent over a year ago. Based in Beijing, JD.com made its first deliveries to customers using smaller drones in November. Its planned drone delivery network would cover a 300-kilometer radius and have drone air bases.
Other e-commerce brands including Amazon also are experimenting with drones for delivery.
China is home to the world’s biggest manufacturer of civilian drones, DJI. Drones are part of the industry’s response to the challenge of expanding to rural areas where distances and delivery costs rise. However drone delivery in China and other countries faces hurdles including airspace restrictions and the need to avoid collisions with birds and other obstacles. In the United States, regulators allow commercial drone flights only on an experimental basis.
A one ton payload is heavier than what most drones available now can carry, though some can carry hundreds of kilograms and major drone makers are working on devices able to carry more.
Arne Arens is now global brand president, The North Face. Arne’s passion for and deep understanding of the outdoor marketplace, coupled with his management expertise and operational agility, make him ideally suited to unlock new opportunities and accelerate growth for The North Face around the world.
The North Face is a part of VF Corporation. Since joining VF in 2010, Arne led The North Face brand in Europe, Middle East and Africa, where he oversaw sales, marketing, merchandising, product development and direct-to-consumer activities.
In his most recent role as general manager of the Americas, he managed the brand’s Americas business and strategic initiatives for sales, merchandising and the direct-to-consumer business.
Prior to joining VF, Arne worked at Nike in Europe, where he spent eight years in marketing, sales and category roles. Before Nike, Arne served in consulting roles across a range of industries and geographies.
VF Corporation is an international apparel and footwear company and has brands like Wrangler, Lee.
Meanwhile the corporation has reduced its global carbon emissions by 12 per cent from 2011 to 2015.
VF achieved these reductions while seeing vast expansions to its business, adding more than 500 sites to its global operations within the five-year period – a 40 per cent increase driven mainly by retail store expansion.
Active seam is Merrow’s newest technology. It seeks to revolutionize medical and compression garment manufacturing by replacing the traditional flat lock seam with a flatter, stronger stitch.
Additionally, active seam is the world’s first branded stitch, bringing a distinctive value to retail products. With a flat profile and twice the stretch built into the seam, active seam garments are extraordinarily comfortable and do not restrict movement.
Active seam replaces flat lock with a stronger, more elastic, and infinitely more attractive seam construction that is ideal for specialized applications like medical compression garments.
Active seam is almost undetectable when applied next to skin. With more stretch built into the seam, the garment can be designed to fit the human body better without restricting athletic movement.
In fact active seam is uniquely suited for any application that entails a garment’s seams be pressed against the skin because of its extremely flat profile, flexibility, and unparalleled comfort. This is great news for anyone who utilizes compression wear, particularly compression garments or athletic apparel, as active seam substantially increases pliability and improves overall fit.
Compared to a six-thread flat lock seam with identical thread, fabric, Merrow active seam two and three thread seams prove to be 30 per cent stronger and have the ability to stretch 100 per cent further.
Merrow, based in the US, manufactures overlock sewing machines for fashion, technical and end-to-end seaming.
"Global shipments of electronic flat knitting machines soared by 99 per cent in 2016.Asia received the highest share of shipments, at 94 per cent. China remained by far the world’s largest investor for flat knitting machines in 2016 with Chinese investments having a global share of 73 per cent, according to The 39th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS), released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)."
Global shipments of electronic flat knitting machines soared by 99 per cent in 2016.Asia received the highest share of shipments, at 94 per cent. China remained by far the world’s largest investor for flat knitting machines in 2016 with Chinese investments having a global share of 73 per cent, according to The 39th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS), released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)
Global shipments of large diameter circular knitting machines fell slightly by three percent in 2016. Also for this category Asia is the world’s leading investor. 87 per cent of all new circular knitting machines were shipped to Asia in 2016. With 43 per cent of worldwide deliveries China was the single largest investor. India and Bangladesh rank second and third. Shipments of new short-staple spindles fell by nearly 12 per cent year-on-year in 2016. Most of the new short staple spindles were shipped to Asia, whereby shipments fell by 12 per cent year-on-year. China, the world’s largest investor of short-staple spindles, experienced an increase of nine per cent whereas deliveries to Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam rose by 97 per cent, four per cent and 31 per cent. The six largest investors in short-staple spindles in 2016 were China followed by India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Turkey and Pakistan.
Global shipments of long-staple (wool) spindles soared by 111 per cent in 2016. Deliveries to Turkey, one of the main investors in long-staple spindles in the last few years, jumped by 153 per cent. The majority of long-staple spindles were shipped to Europe (including Turkey). Nearly 39 per cent of long-staple spindles had Asia as destination.
Shipments of open-end rotors up
Shipments of open-end rotors rose by 66 per cent. About 92 per cent of worldwide shipments of open-end rotors were destined for Asia. Shipments to China, the world’s largest investor in open-end rotors, increased by around 92 per cent. In contrast, regions such as North America and South America recorded annual percentage declines of 72 per cent and 53 per cent. The world’s second and third largest investors in 2016 were India and Turkey.
As for finishing machinery, shipments of some machine types increased in 2016 like dyeing-lines, sanforizing/compacting machines or stenters. In contrast, shipments of washing machines, bleaching-lines, mercerizing-lines and relax drying/tumbling machines decreased.
Global shipments of single heater draw-texturing spindles jumped by 608 per cent. With a share of 57 per cent, Asia is the region were most of the single heater draw-texturing spindles were shipped to, followed by Western Europe with a share of 24 per cent and South America with a share of 19 per cent.
Draw-texturing spindles, continues the downward trend
In the segment of double heater draw-texturing spindles the downward trend continued and global shipments fell by 17 per cent on an annual basis. Asia’s share of worldwide shipments amounted to close to 84 per cent. China remained the largest investor, accounting for 58 per cent of global shipments.
Shuttle-less grows, rapier goes down
In 2016, worldwide shipments of shuttle-less looms increased by four per cent. Thereby, shipments of air-jet and water jet shuttle less looms increased by 15 per cent and by six per cent. In contrast, rapier/projectile shuttle-less looms decreased by six per cent.
The main destination of shipments of all shuttle-less looms (air-jet, water-jet and rapier/projectile) in 2016 was Asia, with 91 per cent of worldwide deliveries, of which 41 per cent were water jet looms and 32 per cent rapier/projectile looms. In Europe and North America 73 per cent and 56 per cent of shipments were for rapier/projectile looms, while the share of water-jet looms was only two per cent and seven per cent respectively. The 39th annual International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics (ITMSS), released by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), covers six segments of textile machinery, namely spinning, draw-texturing, weaving, large circular knitting, flat knitting and finishing. The 2016 survey was compiled in cooperation with more than 140 textile machinery manufacturers, representing a comprehensive measure of world production.
"Fashion cycles change faster than one can imagine. From just a few collections a year, fast-fashion brands such as Zara now offer more than 20, while Sweden’s H&M manages up to 16. It’s a big shift from days when there were only 3-4 collections a year. While this has gone down well with fashion police but it’s impacting the environment in a major way. McKinsey estimates, from pesticides in cotton fields to denim washes, making 1kg of fabric generates 23 kg of greenhouse gases on an average."
Fashion cycles change faster than one can imagine. From just a few collections a year, fast-fashion brands such as Zara now offer more than 20, while Sweden’s H&M manages up to 16. It’s a big shift from days when there were only 3-4 collections a year. While this has gone down well with fashion police but it’s impacting the environment in a major way. McKinsey estimates, from pesticides in cotton fields to denim washes, making 1kg of fabric generates 23 kg of greenhouse gases on an average.
The clothing life cycle has drastically reduced to half compared to earlier. However, global clothing companies know well that customers demand eco-friendly clothing these days. Clothing companies such as Nike have already started taking positive measures. According to eco-experts, one obvious way by which firms can answer environmental concerns is to use renewable energy to power their facilities. Additionally, they can cut back sharply on water and chemical use; and can develop new materials and manufacturing processes that reduce inputs.
Brands take the first green steps
H&M was the largest buyer in the world of ‘Vetter cotton’ last year—that is, cotton produced under a scheme to eliminate the pesticides and encourage strict water management. It grows in 24 countries and represents about 12 per cent of the 25m tonnes of cotton produced each year globally. Kirsten Brodde of Greenpeace highlights that H&M has eliminated toxic per- and polyfluorinated chemicals from its lines (which are used to make garments waterproof). Nike’s Flyknit method of weaving items, including trainers, reduces waste by 60 per cent in comparison with cutting and sewing. Flyknit products have a large following: revenues from the line came to more than $1bn in the last fiscal year.
These are only a handful of companies taking green steps, others don’t even measure their overall environmental impact. Introducing green collections can even carry a risk for brands, informs Steven Swartz of McKinsey because it’s quite possible that a shopper will shift from wearing a consciously green T-shirt to other kinds of clothing owing to changing fashion trends.
Some brands have started encouraging customers to recycle old clothes by returning them to stores. But almost all apparels today are made of a mix of materials—often including polyester. Separating them out is difficult and mechanical methods of recycling degrade fibres. Chemical methods are too expensive to be viable. Shipping second-hand clothes off to countries in Africa and Asia is also an issue. Even if local markets are large enough to absorb them, the poorer quality of polyester-mixed garbs means they do not survive long.
As a pathbreaking achievement British designer Tom Cridland, has created men’s clothing designed to last three decades, thanks to strong seams and special treatments to prevent shrinking. He expects revenues of $1m this year, but admits that his model will be hard to scale. Patagonia, a maker of climbing and hiking gear, sends vans to campuses to help students patch up jackets and trousers. It helps others with greenery, too. After discovering a type of material for wetsuits that, unlike neoprene, requires no oil to make, Patagonia shared the findings with surfing brands such as Quiksilver. Such innovations are the critical need of the hour. At last, style may be forever but today’s model of clothing production is not.
Zund Systemtechnik has bought Zund Plotting Systems.
Zund Systemtechnik is based in Switzerland and specialises in developing and manufacturing digital cutting systems. Zund Plotting Systems is based in the UK and supplies and services precision digital cutting systems.
Zund UK will continue to serve the UK and Irish markets, as in the past, but with the added benefit of being even more closely aligned with its parent company in terms of sales and service.
Zund UK is the distribution and service partner of Zünd Systemtechnik
Zünd Systemtechnik looks forward to strengthening its position in the UK market and continuing to expand its customer base. This acquisition means it will have its representation in the United Kingdom.
The additional resources Zünd Systemtechnik can provide will accelerate Zund Plotting’s growth and further integrate its customer support.
Among Zünd Systemtechnik’s customers are manufacturers and service providers in the graphics, packaging, textile and leather industries, as well as in technical textiles and composites.
The company has sales and service organizations in China, Thailand, USA, India, Netherlands and Italy.Established in 1993, Zünd UK has rapidly become one of the industry leaders. It offers a range of new G3 and S3 cutters, cutting table options and finishing solutions.
Vietnam’s earnings from garment and textile exports in the first quarter of 2017 rose 12.4 per cent against the same period last year. Exports to new markets grew strongly, with Russia up 115 per cent, Singapore 38 per cent, Cambodia 36 per cent and Brazil and India 34 per cent.
Traditional markets like the United States and the European Union saw more humble export growth at 6.3 to 6.4 per cent.
Exports of traditional products grew by 13 to 17 per cent while exports of newer ones, including swimming suits, raincoats and scarves, increased by 18 to 41 per cent.
New products and different ways to approach markets have resulted in higher and more stable growth, while helping the industry rely less on traditional partners.
Exports are expected to increase by ten per cent in the second quarter of the year based on the recovery of main markets such as the US, the EU and Japan as well as the stability of the global economy and politics.
The industry aims at a ten per cent growth to reach 32 billion dollars in export turnover in 2017. To achieve the goal, businesses have been encouraged to invest in new equipment and enhance competitiveness with new technologies.
SPG Prints’ digital textile printer offers quality and value to textile printers who are taking the first step into digital production.
The Javelin has several multiple-pass scanning printing modes that can print high-resolution images up to 1,200 dpi on a variety of substrates. It uses 36 Fujifilm Dimatix Samba print heads and SPG Prints’ unique Archer technology to produce variable drops for optimal control of detail and saturation.
The printer offers flexibility in configuration for use with acid, reactive and disperse inks from SPG Prints. Its capability of printing up to two million linear metres annually on a wide range of substrates makes it an ideal solution for printers taking their first steps into digital production, and those wishing to supplement an existing digital capability.
Printers can use the Javelin with a wide range of substrates and achieve high levels of print quality.
Modern retailing demands shorter runs, faster turnarounds and shortened supply chains with no compromises on colour or print quality. The Javelin printers offer this capability to different ends of the volume spectrum.
SPG is a company in the textile, label and industrial printing markets. It provides total systems solutions, with a portfolio including screens, lacquers, inks, digital engravers, and a range of rotary screen and digital printing systems.
Oeko-Tex will promote sustainability at The Summer Conference and at The AAFA Product Safety Seminar, to be held at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the epicenter of the apparel industry, June 5 to 8, 2017.
Oeko-Tex is an independent textile testing institute working for enhanced product safety and sustainable production in the textile value chain.
The Summer Conference at FIT will address sustainability standards, closed loop, and circular economies, farm to fashion, and textile innovations.
Oeko-Tex will host its 25th anniversary reception for all conference participants, customers, media representatives, and other colleagues at FIT.
Anna Czerwinska, the International Oeko-Tex Association’s head of marketing and communication, will discuss third party standards at the FIT summer conference event. Representatives from other certification organisations and certified manufacturers will join the panel as well. Czerwinska will also moderate the State of Sourcing – Trends, Shifts, and Looking Ahead panel at the AAFA Sourcing Conference on June 7, 2017.
Globally harmonised standards like those in the Oeko-Tex system set the bar for defining and measuring textile safety and sustainability. From raw materials through to the final product, third party certifications help brands and retailers reassure consumers that products are made in environmentally and socially responsible ways and are safe for people to use.
The ready-to-wear sector in Iran has long been impacted by the sanctions, but has nevertheless grown, adopting a series of avoidance strategies throughout the 35-year sanction period.
Iranian sales representatives Mana Sharifi and Patrick Sinz stated that the conference in the early 2016, 99 per cent of apparel imports in Iran were made illegally. Among European countries, Italy is the leader in terms of clothing exports to Iran, Italian products accounting for 52 per cent of European apparel items exported to the country. France ranks fourth in this respect.
Iran is a large country by European standards, with a population of 82 million which still harbours deep disparities in economic means. Nearly 7per cent of Iranians are very well off, and a large number of them belong to the middle class, a boon for western labels.
According to Patrick Sinz, the apparel market in Iran is tricky, but more mature than it seems. Window-display dummies must be headless, brand logos cannot be too transgressive. Even if they follow these rules however, international brands and retailers still have to win over the trust of Iranian consumers.
The country's isolation has given rise to a host of parallel channels and to a large market in counterfeit goods, particularly in ready-to-wear apparel. Agreeing to this Patrick Sinz and Mana Sharifi, Iranian clients must be reassured about the authenticity of the products they purchase. They also want to make sure they buy at a price that is similar with that prevalent in an item's country of origin.
Iranians are social-media savvy and they are regular patrons of airport fashion stores. Over the years, they have always managed to get hold of the clothes they wanted. They are well-travelled and know how to compare prices. Iranian consumers seek exclusivity and peer recognition. They pay special attention to the 'chic factor' in what they buy, and they like to stand out for their outfits and fashion accessories.
