The ability to be connected, flexible and agile is essential for manufacturers to be able to cope with the demands of a digitalising industry.
Redesigning products when they are not selling and having full transparency of production lines through connectivity could be part of a flexible strategy, and this could particularly be applicable to the fashion industry.
Jenny Holloway, CEO of Fashion Enter, spoke to The Manufacturer about innovating designs, their connected Galaxius system and why a flexible strategy is so crucial.
Holloway explained the company’s Galaxius digital system allows the business to see exactly what garment is being made and where, which enables them to have absolute transparency with retailers and consumers.
The connected smart system allows the company to collect data about operations, and carry out Just in Time and lean strategies, where time is money, Holloway tells me.
Galaxius enhances the facilities available and ensures ethical trading by scanning in the start and end times of pre-timed operations. The system also provides a performance related pay structure enabling machinists to hit bonuses.
The system currently handles hundreds of live orders, juggling thousands of data inputs with many garment line productions being recorded.
‘Fast fashion’
The fashion industry is having to react and predict trends more quickly than ever and this is known as ‘fast fashion’; speeding up the production line from design, to manufacturer and then consumer.
But if products are underselling, what are manufacturer’s options?
Holloway said that their approach and system allows them to be “nimble, and that means we are flexible.”
She continued: “By being flexible this means that we can literally swap and change the production lines (on sealed garments of course) so we can maximise sales for the retailer.”
She continued: “However by offering a design service, by being compliant and by people being responsive to changing consumer demands, then manufacturers have a unique place in fashion today.”
Holloway explained this flexibility applies to all types of manufacturing, she said: “Any production line that has repetitive processes can benefit from these strategies and the key is to offer flexibility so the client is fully serviced.”
The ability to offer the services Fashion Enter are able to, is partially due to their connected and forward thinking data system, but also Holloway’s extensive knowledge of industry and understanding of how to be flexible and nimble as a business, as she says.
