Mixed Bag of New Software, Hardware at Material World

The Material World and Technology Solutions expo, held March 16–18 in Miami Beach, Fla., showcased new products for the never-ending quest to increase speed-to-market. With quotas ended for imports from World Trade Organization member countries, the emphasis on global collaboration was at a high, and even entry-level manufacturers eyed the technology offerings at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

One of the biggest releases came from Tolland, Conn.–based Gerber Technology Inc., which rolled out a new version of its popular WebPDM (product data management) software. Version 5.0 facilitates communication and accelerates the coordination of product development tasks by connecting design, engineering, costing and manufacturing information through a centralized database of product-related information—all accessible via the Web.

One of the buzz words floating around Material World was “visibility”: giving suppliers and other supply-chain partners a view (through the Internet) of what’s happening currently in the product development process. Gerber is attempting to increase visibility through WebPDM.

Enhancements include more graphics and a fine-tuned browser interface, remote capability functions to allow collaboration in real time, and tools that eliminate duplicate entries.

Avery Dennison Corp. is making a bigger stake in the tagless-label arena with the release of its new heat-transfer bonding machine, the TH2000, which applies heat-transfer labels to T-shirts and other apparel items. Different models of the machine can process roll-to-roll or cutsingle heat transfers.

The aim of tagless labels is to improve comfort and reduce long-term costs. “This potentially allows apparel and footwear manufacturers to eliminate certain sewing operations, reducing sewing-related costs,” explained Mark Hansinger, Avery’s marketing director.

The TH2000 also features automatic heat-transfer indexing and positioning capabilities, as well as functions that set application temperatures, pressure and dwell time.

Bringing enterprise-wide software to the little guy was a focus for software giant SAP, which during the show was in the middle of a bidding war with Redwood City, Calif.–based Oracle Corp. for Minneapolis-based retail software provider Retek Inc. Oracle eventually won.

SAP, which provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for some of the world’s largest companies, has developed a fixed-fee ERP system aimed at apparel companies with earnings below $200 million.

The company and its partner, Fountain Valley, Calif.–based Metamor Enterprise Solutions LLC, are reemphasizing their Quickwear solution, a SAP-developed ERP system that features most of the same attributes of SAP’s regular system but tuned to accommodate the needs of smaller companies. The package is less expensive and quicker to install (setup usually takes 18 weeks or less) than SAP’s primary product.

The concept is that even the smallest of companies shares up to 85 percent of the same business processes with the Nikes and Reeboks of the world, so providing a pre-configured system can address cost and implementation concerns, said SAP Apparel Manager Marshall Gordon. The value comes in a “best-of-breed” system that can integrate sales and distribution, materials management, and production planning and execution with financials. It is also geared for growth, according to Gordon.

Merrell [footwear] grew 400 percent the year after it was purchased by Wolverine World Wide,” Gordon said. “Where there’s an opportunity, you have to leverage your competitive advantage.”

Also at the show was Los Angeles–based printing-systems maker DigiFab Systems, which announced its new Evolution Graphics RIP (raster image processor). The RIP system is aimed at designers and printers who have trouble matching output colors and printing. It uses variable dot controls, 8-channel ink manipulation and individual inksaturation controls to allow customization of printing jobs. It supports most medium- and large-format printers, including those from ENCAD Inc., Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Mimaki Engineering Co. and Roland DGA Corp. Prices range from $500 to $3,000.

“Sometimes people forget that it’s the quality of the RIP which allows users to get the maximum output from their medium- and wide-format printer,” said Avedik Izmirlian, DigiFab’s president. “And so we’ve developed [this product] to allow users to go beyond default settings and take advantage of our unsurpassed linearization to optimize every detail of the printer’s ability.”

ApparelMagic Seminar at L.A. Textile Show

John Murphy, founder of Glendale, Calif.–based software company ApparelMagic, will present a seminar titled “How to Get the Most From Your Apparel Software” during the Los Angeles International Textile Show, to be held at the California Market Center in Los Angeles.

Murphy and his associates will discuss business management software systems and how they can reap returns-on-investment (ROI) and increase speed-to-market. Specifically, he will address planning and budgeting, hardware and network issues, migrating data from legacy systems, training and support, employing Web showrooms and e-commerce, and measuring ROI.

Murphy founded Murphy & Associates in 1984 as a consultancy group catering to the apparel industry. He later developed ApparelMagic, a business management enterprise resource management system that is used by a number of local and national apparel companies.

The event, which will take place at 2:30 p.m. on April 4 in suite C686, is free to show attendees. For more information, contact sales@apparelmagic.com. —Robert McAllister