Total colour management in textiles by Unknown

Total colour management in textiles by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845691080
Publisher: Woodhead Publishing Ltd
Published: 2014-07-23T00:00:00+00:00


7

Effective colour communication from mind to market

G. Little Wood Datacolor, UK

7.1 Introduction

What exactly is meant by the now ‘well-worn’ phrase ‘from mind to market’ is, potentially, open to widespread interpretation and is a term that is common to many different manufacturing sectors. However, for the most part, it is acknowledged as the process whereby the manufacturer transforms the concept or specification communicated to him by the designer into a physical commodity, usually by way of an initial prototype, which upon approval, is then manufactured in quantity and transported to the point of sale for ultimate purchase and utilisation by the end consumer.

When we focus on the retail apparel sector and, specifically, on the management and communication of colour from ‘mind to market’, we are typically describing the process whereby textile designers collate their target colours and then communicate their colour requirements to the supply chain, usually in the form of a request for a physical sample or ‘lab-dip’. Once this ‘pre-production’ sample is approved, the manufacturer is usually requested to submit a sample from their first production run before managing ongoing production in line with the retailer’s requirements Garment assembly and transportation to warehousing followed by final despatch to the ultimate point of sale, whether that be a ‘bricks and mortar’ retail environment or transactional website, completes this cycle.

The above is an oversimplified version of events and is very specific to the management of colour within the cycle; there are many other parallel processes that take place before, during and after, which, as well as adding value to the final product, introduce additional players, complexity and, inevitably, time and cost. However, these increments, together with the colour sampling process itself, are ‘necessary evils’ and are business critical to any reputable retailer in today’s worldwide market place.

This process was always challenging to manage even in the ‘good old days’ when retailers were able to source significant volumes of merchandise from manufacturers in relatively close proximity to their headquarters. Nowadays, the onset and explosion of global sourcing, which is here to stay, has introduced numerous additional complications including cultures, language barriers, time zones, technical expertise, capacity issues and additional ‘players’ to name but a few.

Communication is intrinsically linked to all of the above and ineffective communication, especially on colour, has severe ramifications in terms of time, cost, quality and overall profitability to today’s apparel retailers. It is precisely for this reason that the proactive and farsighted retailers in today’s market are closely and continually examining the information flow within their value-added chains, and have already taken steps to utilise the latest ‘digital’ tools available on the market to help them to communicate colour and its associated information more effectively.

This chapter will examine the importance of colour within today’s retail environment and, critically, review historic and current practices for colour communication between the specifier and the supply chain. This will be followed by an analysis of current ‘best practice’ in the chain, together with the associated impact and benefits and will conclude with a proposed forecast of how colour could be managed in the future.



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