If you haven’t already started digitizing your materials and components, 2022 is the year to make it happen. The industry is increasingly moving toward the digital realm, and now is the time to join the movement. Find out why this transition is so important, and how you can easily digitize your own materials!
As a material supplier, you know the growing importance of digitizing your inventory. Our recent industry survey shows that 49% of suppliers and 45% of buyers each spend more than €10,000 per year on physical samples. The need for digitalization as a cost-saving measure is clear. What’s more, the vast majority of brands value 3D material visuals, meaning 3D visuals are a great way to differentiate yourself as a supplier in this increasingly digital landscape.
Check out our latest blog post and learn how to determine the right digital format to convert your physical materials into digital versions!
Sourcing footwear and apparel materials has historically been time-, travel-, and resource-heavy; the time has come to streamline the material sourcing value chain with technology.
Traditionally a belly-to-belly transaction, the process of sourcing and then managing materials has been analog-based and relied on multiple, separate systems. This has resulted in a slow and complex go-to-market journey; our recent survey (source: Digital Sourcing Report) shows it can take up to 40 weeks – nearly a year! – to source materials and get a product to market.
Ecommerce and the digital economy have leveled the business landscape as audiences, including buyers and end-customers, now expect efficient digitalization and comprehensive product information. As a result, these expectations have reached apparel and footwear material sourcing which has changed the game for suppliers. Suppliers face business challenges today that did not exist just a few years ago. The good news is there are also new opportunities to reach buyers that were not possible previously.
Earlier this week, the Apparel Impact Institute and World Resources Institute jointly published a Roadmap to Net Zero report for the apparel sector. This report offers a tangible estimate of apparel sector emissions as well as recommendations to reduce that impact. Learn more about these findings in our latest blog post – and how Material Exchange has a solution.
What do watchstrap maker Thomas Schori in Switzerland, watch designer Greg Verras in Detroit, and scientist-turned-plastic-salvager Dr. Michel Pardos in Thailand have in common? Find out in a recap of our Chief Sustainability Officer Kelly Burton’s presentation at last week’s Sustainability Summit hosted by Fashiondex and LIM College. Salvaging plastic has never been this exciting.
Design for disassembly footwear solutions is gaining momentum; that is, the concept of assembling and disassembling pattern pieces and components. Each product/concept is built to be remade, re-examining how to approach end-of-life creatively and incorporate this into a circular economy.
Fully recycling shoes would be very complex as there are so many pattern pieces, often involving many different materials having been stitched and glued together..
Material sourcing has evolved; we are currently in the fourth wave of industry maturity. No longer is it enough to rely on physical systems and fax machines to transact business. Today’s savvy industry buyers and suppliers know material sourcing today is about managing the entire lifecycle of material design, fabrication, and distribution with less cost and faster time-to-market using technology.
“The waste that goes on and on in these processes, and the cost of shipping it around, is an unreasonable waste of energy and resources. We need to change and shift our behavior to be more conscious about what we are doing as an industry. We cannot continue this direction – it is literally unsustainable – so the shift to digital must start now.” (A. Olah, Kingpins Show)
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Following is a spring 2021 interview between Darren Glenister, CEO of Material Exchange, and Andrew Olah, Founder and CEO of Kingpins Shows.
Sustainability is an ever-evolving theme every future-facing organisation is starting to unpack, otherwise known as the “eco awakening” specifically in the materials industry. The most practical thing to consider is stopping excess waste and pollution. Up until now, brand equity was everything; however, this is quickly being replaced by consumer perception and values, relationships and customer experience.
Beyond that, the industry will evolve further. What will be the future role for creators and designers globally? And in what ways will the industry evolve over time? How will materials play a role in a future-facing creation process?