Comments on: SPESA Trip Report: Kathleen pt.2

By: How to apply interfacing

How to apply interfacing — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:10:12 +0000

[...] you consult industry interfacing experts -the people who make fusing machines-, they’ll tell you that applying fusibles relies on three things, time, pressure and heat. [...]

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:35:57 +0000

Also see an excellent comment written by Evelyn regarding the set up at TC2 and their training facilities that she posted to another entry rather than this one.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:58:21 +0000

Hi David, great that you stopped by. I guess I’ll have to cross TC2 off the list of people who ignore me, I hate it when that happens. I have to behave if people are watching .

The SizeUSA study was funded in part by taxpayer dollars but was also funded through the sponsorship of many private apparel companies…

Yes, I understand and actually mentioned such in previous entries. However, said sponsorship from apparel companies is also, indirectly, subsidized by taxpayers as these contributions are tax deductible.

By: David Bruner

David Bruner — Wed, 23 May 2007 14:29:42 +0000

From [TC]2 – no worries about your comments on [TC]2, but some clarification. The SizeUSA study was funded in part by taxpayer dollars but was also funded through the sponsorship of many private apparel companies (over 60 companies have sponsored or purchased data). The sale/release of that information to others has to been done in fairness to the value that they have contributed. It is possible to get sub-segments of the full data set for far less than $20,000 (either by demographic group or subset of measurements). You and all your readers are welcome to visit [TC]2 at any time and see many of the technologies from the Cool Zone. We do have visits from both large and small companies, and we are actively engaged with all size companies (as members and in consulting arrangements). Finally, the graph you have published is a small piece of a white paper which we are freely distributing to share some of the value of SizeUSA to all industry. Anyone can get a full copy at no cost by sending an e-mail request to kmunro@tc2.com (Kim Munro – she presented this work in a seminar session at SPESA).
Best Regards,
David Bruner
[TC]2
http://www.tc2.com

By: Joyce Ireland

Joyce Ireland — Fri, 18 May 2007 02:13:21 +0000

Lisa,
I’m not Kathleen, but your comment shows I’m not the only one challenged to interpret those histogram graphs.

The vertical axis measures the number of people in the sampled population who have a particular seat or waist measurement, the length of which is shown on the horizontal axis.

By: Lisa Bloodgood

Lisa Bloodgood — Thu, 17 May 2007 21:05:49 +0000

Also, I think it is WAY COOL for a machine to knit a whole garment, especially with underarm gussets! Now if I could just get my mom to knit me some sweaters, hee hee.

By: crackers

crackers — Thu, 17 May 2007 18:28:40 +0000

A note on Robeson, if I may…I was planning on writing a short article over in the forum next week.

I just bought two machines from them. I was basically in the market for an electronic bar tack machine in order to save money. I spoke with a friend who has one of the largest technical harness and rescue gear manufacturing companies in the USA. He recommended Robeson, stating that they were friendly, honest and their prices were generally excellent. So far, I’ve been amazed by the level of sales support from them and the bar tack machine was cheap enough to justify buying a straight stitch machine with automatic backtacker and undertrimmer to fill up the skid.

As I said, I’ll write a full report up when I’ve used the machines for a week or two, but to date, I’m extremely happy with Robeson.

By: Big Irv

Big Irv — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:57:46 +0000

I read this post with interest, especially the initial reception some companies pay to visitors stopping by their exhibits.

I spent more time amongst the fabric/trim exhibitors than the equipment or technology guys, and I found most in this sector to be attentive and outgoing.

My discussion with Anthony McBryan of Shima Seiki USA was very enlightening and I commend him on a very professional and honest sales pitch on his knitting equipment. During our discussion, I learned that he is the “pioneer” in the USA seamless knitting world and aside from marketing his firm’s services and equipment, he consults with many brands and retailers.

He was quite frank that his new technolgy was not going to revolutionize apparel manufacturing, but augment and add another dimension to it. I see only quality goods being made on this type of equipment.

By: Lisa Bloodgood

Lisa Bloodgood — Thu, 17 May 2007 01:04:15 +0000

Kathleen, could you please explain the chart numbers? Along the top, side and above the colored columns. They didn’t make a ton of sense even on the big version, but I could just be not getting it today.

By: J C Sprowls

J C Sprowls — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:40:36 +0000

Big Irv did all the hard work of getting prices and throughput figures on the whole garment knitters. I just churned them through Excel to figure out the garment costs.

The manufacturer of the whole garment knitting machine is Shima Seiki and Big Irv has shared more information about it in the forum.

Incidentally, that $16 figure is only the depreciation of the knitter based on the garments it would produce during the depreciation period (7 1/2 yrs). I use obscure calculations like those to determine the value a machine needs to contribute while it occupies floor space. Ops guys have all kinds of shortcut calculations on their slide rule

I’ll share more on my specific exploits, later. But, as some comparison:
–A top-of-the-line Durkopp-Adler keyhole buttonhole machine is $.11 per garment (no, I didn’t break it down per buttonhole – just the whole jacket).
–Likewise, the DA automated pocket welter was $.12 per garment (again, whole jacket).
–The lapel roll padder from Strobel is $.06 per jacket