Material Is Your Business

How UPS strategically partners with businesses, from shortening routes, improving supply chains, developing delivery by drones, sustainability and humanitarianism, and data and analytics…

Jason Robinson, Director of Marketing for the North Atlantic Region for UPS, joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser. (Robinson’s profile)

Empowering competition, drones, and Orion

Robinson shares his love of the complexity of movement, how he fell into his job after growing up in UPS out of high school and worked his way up, and being in a new role only around since 2010. What UPS offers businesses to compete with large platforms, the impact of same day delivery, and how UPS creates challenges and forces change, the need for partnerships, and keeping the finger on the pulse. Drones, related regulations/policies, testing drones after the hurricane in Houston, logistics, weight limits, restrictions, how drones can help in rural areas, and challenges of introducing a new technology into existing infrastructure and fully deploying quickly. And the incredible tool Orion, which shortens the routes of drivers, saving millions of dollars on fuel.

Education, reducing the carbon footprint, and the UPS Package Lab

Industry training business about consumer expectations, asking consumers about behavior online, time in transit, custom shipping, the increase of mobile and loss of tablet activity. Sustainability and humanitarian focuses, increasing efficiency and safety by saving mileage and fuel by minimizing left hand turns. Material and packaging options for recycled materials, looking. And the UPS Package Lab has an eco packaging program, which can help with marketing.

Data and analytics, fly fishing, and being a strategic partner

Robust data and analytics from UPS and making those available to businesses, giving the delivery driver the opportunity to go into houses with a doorbell program, and the impact of residential vs. commercial. Personal questions cover fitting in family time, fly fishing in the Catskills, hiking trails, bucket list cultural experiences and wishes, Norway, and New Zealand (and, again, fly fishing). And UPS My Choice, and being strategic partners instead of a vendor.

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Material and textile matchmaking in other countries…

Marni Leopold (Luxury Sales & Management – ‎Trade Commission of Peru), Lucia Palacios (Marketing and Promotion Director of Vestex, Apparel and Textile Association of Guatemala), and Mary Marino (Trade Linkage Consultant, USAID Contractor at East Africa Trade and Investment Hub), join Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at Sourcing at Coterie. Powered by Sennheiser.

Peru

Marni Leopold (Luxury Sales & Management – ‎Trade Commission of Peru) discusses her role as a matchmaker, making introductions between USA designers and brands with Peruvian manufacturers, materials and market. How the attraction to Peru starts with quality, some of the best raw materials in the world, fibers, fabrics, and Peru has a free trade agreement, so materials are duty free. Promoting manufacturing, a trade show, how Leopold became involved, a focus on Hema Cotton and Alpaca, and a love of ceviche.

Guatemala

Lucia Palacios (Marketing and Promotion Director of Vestex, Apparel and Textile Association of Guatemala) shares how her organization represents textile mills, apparel manufacturers, and services and trimmings, making a fully integrated supply chain for the apparel industry. For the last 8 years the leading export industry in Guatemala has been apparel, as 50% of the value of exports. How the country is competitive in knit tops, synthetic tops has been growing, fabric mills from spinning to delivery, innovating culture, and how the country has been thought narrowly but is not just offering artisanal or handcrafted products. Palacios comments on the challenges in moving supply chain and growing, competition in Haiti, Asia, and Central America — and eating outside of Peru.

East Africa

Mary Marino (Trade Linkage Consultant, USAID Contractor at East Africa Trade and Investment Hub) touches on how her non-profit is a facilitator based in Nairobi, Kenya, to educate on the US and East African sides about AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), about duty free opportunities into the US, and how component parts can be imported and originated anywhere in the world. How her work is a matchmaking process, how East Africa offers very unusual techniques unique to that area, how much of the world incorrectly assumes language barriers, and misconceptions about AGOA such as not needing to source fabrics and trims from Africa to benefit. And how pricing is strategic in relationships and opportunities for duty free access offers advantages. Plus — Florence Italy as a second home.

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Watchdog for ethical manufacturing…

Clay Hickson (profile), VP of Strategy and Business Development at WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production), a non-profit organization “sweatshop watchdog” making sure manufacturers are ethical manufacturers, joins hosts Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at Sourcing at Coterie. Powered by Sennheiser.

Certification and education, demands for ethical sourcing, and a history of concerns

Hickson discusses how materials are building blocks and sources of information, and how WRAP provides certifications and educational activities, doing it last year in more than 2500 factories in more than 40 countries. He reveals who pays for the costs and how many stakeholders and customers are demanding ethical sourcing including socially responsible investors. A look at child labor, forced labor, and structural integrity of building, along with the history of ethical sourcing concerns.

Auditing, local laws and conventions, and Africa

The importance of unannounced audit is discussed, and a look into WRAP as a small organization with 25 full time staff and most accreditations performed by third party auditors from reputable firms. How WRAP has zero tolerance policies, but not necessarily always permanently blacklists manufacturers. What constitutes forced labor, defining child labor internationally, and the importance of following both local laws and international conventions. Creating corrective action plans, and a growing presence in Africa.

A role model, The China Guy, and connections

Personal questions in a round of “Remnants” cover a role-model speech teacher in school has been important to Hickson as he tries to effect better international communication, optimism and positivity, how “one person’s armpit is another person’s paradise”, Amsterdam, being ‘The China Guy”, and the way connections, seeing people as potential mentors and staying connected is so important.

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Garments and textile items for healthcare, linen supply and industrial settings…

Ronnye Shamam, President of Shamron Mills (a manufacturer of all types of garments and textile items for healthcare, linen supply and other industrial settings – (profile)), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes at the MouthMedia Network Studios powered by Sennheiser.

Origins, mandating quality, and challenges

Shamam discusses how the company started with hospital gowns, and sells to distributors, how for many the quantities that Shamron Mills are not important enough to get involved in, and largely manufacturing overseas. Mandating that color, fasteners and fabric stand up to industrial laundries and high temperatures to sterilize, drapes in operating rooms that must be certain sized with specific openings, customized for superstar doctors, and children sleepwear regulations. Production locations, changing and modifying the business to stay aligned with customers and industry. The challenges of fewer mills and converters, having to adapt to make more overseas. How small runs and quick turnaround requires Made in USA.

Working with distributors, supply chains, and technology

Managing expenses for small runs, and being so specific and small in grand scheme of things with the result of buyers being willing to pay additional bucks. How Shamron Mills sells to distributors, not to hospitals directly. Being an expert and leader in this niche. Bright colors and patterns, how garments for other industries are simpler and not as tailored. And considerations for certification. Supply chains, how it is harder to find textiles, buying from mills less and more from jobbers, and needing to feel energized for the future. Relying on the website as a tool for the customers, how Shamron Mills has always been on the technological frontline.

The future of the company, the detachable collar, and a new idea

Whether she will sell the company that is so personal, technical fabrics, but institutions don’t want to pay for them, and whether they last in the laundry. And a new idea for a special hospital gown. Using a unique set of experiences and knowledge. And how she started her business, being grateful for a mentor, and angel, and someone who trusted her. The magic of the detachable collar, going back to her roots, an email from the government leads to an all-female outdoors trip to Mexico, and a big birthday party in Nice. Don’t be afraid, get joy, and positive people.

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Fashion trend forecasting…

Sharon Graubard, Founder and Creative Director of MintModa (trend forecasting which enables trend-right product for all fashion and design-related industries – (profile)), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia network studios powered by Sennheiser.

What MintModa looks for, looking for the thread, and trends as a mirror

Graubard shares how as a fashion forecaster she analyzes what’s going on — on the street and in culture — and meaningful narratives about fashion, along with some direction. How analysis happens, how the seeds of what’s coming are here and now, and focuses also on home interiors, beauty and design related industries. What she and her team look for, how you can kind of feel it, what’s coming next. Why you still have to travel to see trends, to feel and smell it. Seeing the world on your phone is not ideal, digesting info, how you can’t be everywhere and assess everything, how does info come in, what might be not so much a trend, more like assessing street tribes of fashion, looking for the thread not just low hanging fruit, new contexts, a strange mix bubbling up that becomes newness. Maps with arrows, like a psychological map behind the trend. Designers thinking they are their own trend forecasters, who the Internet affects. Now the consumer tells the industry what’s happening next. Need to see what designers think, along with what people are wearing. A self fulfilling-prophecy vs. a trend being organic? A trend has to be like a mirror.

Report vs. service, fashion as a democratic art, and fabric’s important role

Must be open/inclusive, but specific and focused. Is it a report or service? (More analytical and creative than a report). Zones! The textile, the fabric is where the creativity is, and why Graubard is so passionate about materials. Performance is an invisible quality, but adds real value. And customers are looking for value. And a prediction of where fashion industry trends are going. How MintModa helps with verbage for websites, naming of products, and having a very full, diverse, interesting team, having different eyes, different voices, different points of view. Fashion is the most democratic art — everyone wakes up and gets dressed. Things move just as fast as they always have. Fabric is the thing that has technology. The way we build clothes is pretty much the way we always have.

A first job in fashion, craft and artisanal, and Paris

How MintModa allows user to go deeper and do their own research and want to spur more research on the site. A trend might not be trending, but a client might like a look. How Graubard never studied fashion, always loved it, and never had heard of a fashion forecaster. The only jobs in fashion were as a textile colorist, painting prints, and how she put a fashion portfolio together and got work. Her first job at The Tobin Report from a newspaper ad in Help Wanted section. How far out we need to look in forecast, the most important value in the millennial, and how craft and artisanal are still important. And personal questions in a round of Remnants cover the heritage of Paris, how all roads lead to one look, being wide open to fashion possibilities, and your own sincere, authentic feeling about something.

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Apparel as data platform with a biometric sensor kit from SUPASPOT…

Sabine Seymour, Consultant. Researcher, and Founder & CEO at SUPASPOT INC. (biometrics + extreme sports + fashion + artificial intelligence in a onesie at a dance party with the SUPA Powered Sports Bra having an integrated sensor made from fabric – (profile)), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

A digital YKK, gathering data, potential blockchain for biometrics

Seymour details the biometric sensor kit for clothing, essentially a digital YKK, connecting to piece of electronics can be clipped into garment, automatically connected it to the SUPA app, with different applications on platform, integrating sensor like a trim or zipper into the garment. Correlating and aggregating data, evaluating levels of hydration for example, resulting in much data being gathered, every garment has a unique ID and can be traced, do not give the data away, but can make a transaction that can give deals in return for data sharing. No methods of data encryption, possible block chain for biometrics?

A platform, garments as an IoT device, and SUPApowers

A way to look at the tech as an accessory instead of electronics, how it changes consumer view, like a personal Tamagotchi. How a consumer only needs one device. Being SUPApowered, how SUPA is a platform, wanting to integrate any hardware there is if it has functionality that the brand wants to give consumers to use. Garments will be another IoT device. Amazing for healthcare and energy, thanks to heat monitoring on bodies. The pilot, protoytype for SUPA, great feedback from brands, testing the product, building “SUPApowers”, integrating sensors into some garments, and washability.

Manufacturing in Europe vs. US, creating experiences, and snowboarding

How Seymour built her first biometric sensor system for snowboarding in 2000. US Manufacturing, research in Europe vs. US, the importance of creating experiences in sports, lifestyle, health, making a difference in the environment via work with brands, fun and conscious, the need to have users to build data. And a maternity kit. The value prop that brands get tech, experiences, platform, and more. Personal questions with a round of Remnants cover flying, loving veggies, snowboarding, and the SUPA Squad.

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Innovative, advanced, and sustainable materials library…

Andrew Dent, Executive Vice President, Research for Material ConneXion (the world’s largest library of innovative, advanced, and sustainable materials – (profile)) – joins Stephanie Benedetto, Samanta Cortes, and Rob Sanchez at the MouthMedia Network Studios powered by Sennheiser.

Materials across industries, the magic of physical samples, and four tenents

Dent describes how Material ConneXion show clients who make anything them how to make better products ranging from beds, to clothing, flooring, appliances, vehicles, furniture, exploring new and interesting materials, providing both digital and in-person searches, but how there is no substitution for physical samples. The way it sparks innovation and inspiration, the ability to touch and feel materials across various markets. Four tenents for innovation to get into the library, artificial spider silk, and making fabrics out of milk.

Spider silk, composites, and sustainability

How Adidas came out with product with synthetic spider silk that was completely biodegradable in a few hours with a special enzyme, how North Face created a Moon Parka and Bolt Threads has a tie from spider silk, and what makes sustainable product work when needed and disappear when not. How products from natural resources can break down, and making sure a product at the end of life is timed for being at end of usefulness. Where Material ConneXion is going in the future, how the composites world is changing quietly and seeing more automation that allows use in more applications, seeing shifts and cycles, how many foods make good plastics, dealing with abundance of foods and oversupply into sustainability arguments, and making sure that doesn’t take away from natural resources.

Creating new products, printed and embedded electronics, and Milan

The way women apply cosmetics in South Korea is different, how every material has a solution, a case that had difficulty but had an exciting solution, new ways of designing and doing things by new ways of looking at materials, even transforming products into new things such as embedded robotics and digital circuitry, printed electronics, and challenges that they bring, and considerations of the after life of products and materials. And a round of Remnants personal questions covers great grounding in the physical world, loving and being taken up by Milan, the Milan Furniture Fair, new experiences, an unlimited palette, when artists and scientists get together, and hope.

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Sustainable manufacturing of fine count yarns with Buhler Quality Yarns…

David Sasso, VP of International Sales for Buhler Quality Yarns (manufacturer and supplier of fine-count yarns, with over 200 years of experience producing yarns, and dedicated to the highest standards, unparalleled service and sustainable manufacturing – (bio)) joins Samanta Cortes, Stephanie Benedetto, and Rob Sanchez on location at TexWorld USA in New York.

Centuries of experience, a partnership, and quality over price

Sasso discusses Supima, a premiere spinner for micromodal and tencel products from wood fibers, how the industry lost focus, what cellulose means to comfort and breathability, how the Buhler name goes back over 200 years, a premiere spinner of premium fibers in Europe, was core product and yarn, and having been in high demand for luxury products on global basis. A partnership putting together strategies going forward, global vs. regional strategies, market changes, how Buhler knows about manufacturing of yarns, fabrics and apparel, and looking at the whole supply chain and fine tune it to be competitive. Quality is important and education as well, not problems when not maximizing consumer experience.

Educating partners, technical qualities, and sustainability

How if one saves pennies it can sacrifice dollars when the customer is not happy. Educating partners to know how a supply chain can be put together to meet price points and manufacturing goals. And speed vs. price point vs. communication vs. transportation. Breathability requires cellular features, the difference in naturally occurring vs. synthetics fibers, how everyone wants to jump to design stage without considering technical qualities of fibers, from structure to shape, and implications on performance, absorption, and having lost that knowhow. While value is the game changer, what sustainability means to Buhler, the worst sustainable product is one that doesn’t last, and didn’t accomplish much at a consumer level.   Fiber properties must be there or a fabric will be inferior. If a fiber is weak it must be blended with a stronger fiber for example.

Marketing, military innovations, and Panama

The marketing strategy going forward because of marriage with Samil Spinning Co. Is regeneration of fibers in the future for Buhler? So many things happening in the US market from temperature sensing, resisting moisture, and more. Military innovations at university levels, asking industry to look at it, the need to consolidate, and the need for less manufacturing. Personal questions with a round of Remnants covers dinner with politicians who influence the world and distribute wealth, steak, being driven by family, and coming from Panama into pursuing the American dream.

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Strategy and brand development for retail and emerging designers…

Mercedes Gonzalez, Director of Global Purchasing Companies (a fashion strategy and brand development agency, planning and implementing strategies for retailers and emerging designers – (bio)) joins Samanta Cortes, Stephanie Benedetto, and Rob Sanchez on location at TexWorld USA in New York.

Becoming a negotiator, matching American retail sensibilities, and buyers vs. accountants

Gonzalez reveals her work as a buyer, with a forte in international business, moments of opportunity, how selling old ladies polyester dresses is not glamorous, and why that led her to being a buyer in pursuit of glamour and ending up working with knit tops up to $10. How Gonzalez developed a reputation as a good negotiator, how speaking Spanish led to advancement, her current 19 years-old company, the impact of matching international stores with the sensibilities of American stores, discoveries of a mall developer in Siberia, how advising emerging designers helped raise sales but in 2009 when online sales started were soaring, the importance of timing for opportunity, why Gonzalez has been called the dream crusher (vs. nightmare avoider), and how buyers are not buyers but instead accountants.

The avocado effect, arguing sustainability, and shifting consciousness

The Avocado Effect (paying because you want it because of a good story or great feature), and a debate about the word “sustainable”. Do sustainability, ethical, fair trade, etc. make a product more valuable if the brand or designer don’t understand it? Why a minimal standard should revolve around basic human needs. Being the best in any product category. Shifting consciousness from checking a box to making a difference, and whose job is that? How if people want to abuse the system, they will.

Fair cost vs. price, Cuba, and global privilege

Pursuing a fair relationship between cost and retail price, chasing the big picture, and the ideas of global standardization vs. one factory at a time. And personal questions in a round of Remnants cover how communism works in Cuba, no orphanages in Cuba, being an Island girl, being bossy, talking a lot and not sharing. Plus, global privilege of communication offers a huge opportunity for brands and retailers.

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Digital textile printing solutions with Kornit…

Tim Hallett, Director of Marketing, North America, Kornit Digital (digital textile printing solutions) joins Samanta Cortes, Stephanie Benedetto, and Rob Sanchez on location at TexWorld USA in New York.

Humidification, wet-on-wet, and a point-and-click world

Hallett discussed Kornit’s digital printers, and how they manufacture their own ink, being a full solution to clients and their clients. One thing that is different is a humidification process. Inks all water based, doesn’t require pretreating before printing. Patented wet-on-wet process, trying to modify the supply chain, which is currently significantly extended. Just take a picture and upload it, put in system, and it is on a shirt in minutes. Ripping software will be dependent on customer workflow. Light commercial to mass customization, and a roll-to roll-solution which can go straight to a cutting machine, satisfying today’s point and click world.

The value proposition, impacting supply chain, and connecting with community

Synthetics are different, with dyes at lower temperatures. Kornit is manufacturing and selling printers and inks, eco-friendly ink system, with value proposition as a time-saver, energy saver, labor saver, significantly impacts supply chain, can take design and test it immediately, and satisfy smaller runs. Moved from design then sell to designing what you’ve already sold. Degree of colorfast on leather, and Kornit’s significant R and D. Taking dye out, replacing color, the hand feel after the process and discharge which takes out the dye from the area you want colored. Connecting with the community at TexWorld, educating clients based on technology Kornit is offering, and helping the client make money.

The Chicago Cubs, size matters, and telling the right story

Customization will be spread across a variety of industries, with examples the like when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series the shirts were not pre-made, companies can react to something more cost effectively, with the ability to react in “real time”. How long it takes for an image to lay right depends in part on size of an image, plus a look at how small, how large printer can handle. Remodeling, how Hallett’s military experience impacts doing things 100%, educating people in the business world, and learning how to tell a story at the right time to the right people to fight for something.

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