A Mass Customization Revolution
A Mass Customization RevolutionThe Industrial RevolutionThe great social and economic changes due to the introduction of machine and power tools and large-scale industrial production began in 1760. Through the first 70 years of this century, the US was the industrial giant of the world. In 1960 the words "Made in Japan" was thought to be a joke. By 1980, those same words had become the standard for manufacturing. In 1985, U.S.
manufacturing was in a deep depression. Products were too costly, of poor quality and not innovative enough.Now, again, America is ranked No. 1 in manufacturing (World Competitiveness Report, 1996).Mass customizationAmerica's No. 1 standing is primarily due to the manufacturing revolution that has been under way since 1985. This quiet revolution is built on the unsurpassed innovative spirit of the American people.
Innovation is one of the qualities upon which America is founded. American manufactures are the world's leading innovators. The right combination of technology and people is a good foundation for any company. These technologies are leading to a major new phenomenon: mass customization, which is the ability to customize products literally in quantities as small as one, while producing them at mass-production speeds. Mass customization in the Information Age is replacing the mass-production model of the Industrial Age.The ultimate outcome will be simultaneous manufacturing.
Here, even as the customer is giving the order, the product starts to be manufactured. It may seem like a fairy tale, but the time is fast approaching when a customer will stand at a retailers fitting room, download their personal measurements into a computer, choose the pattern and variety of material wanted for their clothing and before they leave the outlet their order is in production. Now that's a truly empowered customer!Over the past few years, there have been a number of articles written on lasers. Each author lists applications as it relates specifically to their area of expertise. However, what EdgeWISE Tools would like to do in this article is to stimulate you to visualize all the different ways you can use a laser to produce a variety of products.
Let your imagination go. Don't fear the unknown. Those that can see the future have the greatest opportunity to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. "Carpe Diem" - seize the moment!Why use a Laser?In 1985, thermal contact cutting tools were developed for roll feed plotters. The "Hot Tip" became the first large format cutting system introduced to the sign industry.
This process became the corner stone that most plotter manufactures built on. Through evolution, the cutting hardware has changed and significant strides have been achieved. We have seen progressive steps taken to where technology is today.Most old manufacturing technology uses contact cutting tools; where the tool actually contacts the surface, it is meant to cut. The cutting tools must be re-sharpened or replace often and as the tool wears out the quality is compromised. This antiquated method has become an additional source of income for the manufactures because they now get to market one or more consumable tools.
Contact manufacturing with all its additional costs can now be replaced with a more economical solution.The next giant evolutionary leap in cutting manufacturing is the replacement of contact cutting tools with non-contact tools. The next logical step is to use laser technology for mass customization. The traditional high cost of laser technology has delayed the development of the Roll Feed Laser (RFL). A day is like a year in technological development terms. However, recently the cost of laser technology has been reduced to the point where today it has become an affordable means of manufacturing.Roll Feed LaserIn 1988, research and development began on the first Roll Feed Laser system (RFL).
This research developed more than just a new product. It developed new concepts in manufacturing and new ways to manufacture. The realization of mass customization is appearing using lasers. The combination of these two things EdgeWISE Tools calls the laser manufacturing revolution. This laser manufacturing revolution we are beginning to see is becoming bigger than anyone has yet imaged.
There are literally hundreds', if not thousands', of markets and industries that have yet to be discovered.Can you change?As history has proven, there are always those people that lack the foresight and intuition to respond to the changing trends of time. Ten years ago, in 1986, industry scoffed at the idea of a large format, computerized, cutting system becoming the main work tool for the trade. The resistance to change at that time was severe. Seven years ago most plotter manufactures laughed at the idea of a low wattage Roll Feed Laser system and could not see the potential for manufacturing one. Look at what is happening today, Since 1990, the number and diversity of applications for low wattage CO2, Nd:YAG and Diode laser systems have exploded.
The CO2 laser market has grown on average of 60% per year. More people are recognizing the benefits of using a CO2 laser over other traditional manufacturing tools. Machinery like dies, routers, hot knives, and mechanical engravers are being replaced with affordable low wattage RFL systems. Ink jet printers, in some applications, are losing ground to the advancing low wattage laser used for marking.What does this mean?In what other business can you invest in a piece of equipment to produce such a variety of different products? Products can be manufactured using plastic, woods, fabrics, rubber, and metals. Because the kerf is very narrow and the laser controlled by a computer nearly any design can be cut.
It is just as easy to cut one design as it is to cut a million. Comparing this too most manufacturing equipment, you could invest $50K to $500K on an offset printing press. However, you can only use this equipment to print on a specific type of material. A silkscreener, sign maker, engraver, or for that matter most everyone in the manufacturing field, will purchase a specific piece of manufacturing equipment to accomplish a specific task. A machinist may be one of the only people that will purchase a piece of equipment and be able to work a small number of different materials.
The machinists' limitations show up in the restricted types of designs he can shape. Nevertheless, even a machinist's tools cannot work with the variety of materials and designs that one can attain using a Roll Feed Laser.Acquiring capital equipment is usually difficult for a new or growing business. Capital investment is one of the major issues for a new or growing business. To a start-up company, or a company that is seeking to reinvest, capital investment is the one main issue that is becoming harder to justify. A piece of capital equipment that is designed for just one purpose is not cost effective when a multifunctional alternative is available.
The capital investment to produce an exclusive product has become such an immense cost that these moneys are rapidly shrinking. Switching to the use of a laser for manufacturing is a contemporary new process. A process that, if not adhered to, could cost the business owner market share, and ultimately his market completely. Most of us have known someone that this has happened to in the past. Reluctance to change can cause the demise of any very good company.
EdgeWISE Tools is unaware of any other process that can produce the variety of products and open up design creativity as much as what you get when you use the RFL. Nowhere else can you work with paper to plastic to wood and pretty much everything in-between and back again with one piece of equipment. The only challenge now is left up to the ingenuity of the owner or operator to produce the product.Since a laser does not come in contact with or use force on the material being manufactured spoilage can be drastically reduced. Lasers will increase a companies yield. Some surveys show a yield rate of 95% to 99%.
Having owned a graphic arts manufacturing facility in the late 1980's, on the best of days the yield was 80% to 85% and on average the yield rate would be 75% to 80%. The lack of contact with materials attributes to the higher yield rates. Because the process of using a laser is automated, the process tends to be far more repeatable than most methods. Once the process starts, it is frozen and day to day repeatability is maintained.The future is at hand!Imagine the industrial revolution...now imagine the industrial revolution with mass customization. A comparable example mass-customization is the jeans industry.
Only the affluent could afford to purchase a pair of custom-made jeans from a tailor. Most consumers can only buy jeans in sizes manufactured to suit the cost of production, not body shapes. As mass-customization technology is available, manufacturers need to again provide the American people with a quality product. The jeans and roll feed laser industries are forerunners in the race to make mass-customized products accessible to consumersThe industrial revolution made products affordable by mass-production. This mass-production required only one setup to produce thousands of pieces.
The cost for tooling is one of the largest expenses, which controls the break-even-point. During the industrial revolution, customization was compromised to maintain low manufacturing costs. Today, however, you have the opportunity to choose to take the next step to processing power, user-friendly software, low wattage laser technology, and minimal to no setup time. As you contemplate capital investments, consider end-product quality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of roll feed laser technology.Written in 1996 by:Patrick J. Momany,
Founder of EdgeWISE Tools, Inc.
www.ewt-inc.comEdited by:Marty Kalberer, Laser Systems Engineer..
EdgeWISE Tools founder Pat Momany ? didn?t start out at the high-tech edge of the fabric cutting industry. Problems that need solving get his inventive juices flowing, and his penchant for saying, "Sure, we can do that," before figuring out how, add up to an enterprise that?s reinvented itself several times. Now with that trademark inventiveness and can-do attitude, Seattle-based EdgeWISE is pushing the limits of fabric cutting, in a system custom-designed to cut out the huge scientific balloons NASA plans to send to the very edge of Earth?s atmosphere.pmomany@edgewisetools.comBathing Suits
Bathing suits, also known as swimsuits, are worn for many purposes. Basically, for the general public, they are meant to avoid nudity or exposure when going for a swim or sun-bathing in public places like beaches and public swimming pools. Swimmers in a competition may wear them for thermal protection, and contestants in a beauty pageant, for displaying their bodies.
It is illegal to go swimming without a bathing suit in many parts of the United States, as it is considered to be a form of indecent exposure. There are special beaches and resorts reserved for people who wish to go nude while swimming. The number of nudist beaches has risen in recent years, and their popularity is still growing.
There are many types of bathing suits available for men, women and children.
Men's bathing suits may include shorts, trunks, board shorts, jammers, speedo-style briefs, thongs, or cut-off jeans. Women's bathing suits mainly consist of one-piece swimsuits, bikinis,...
Bathing Suits
Jeans > Bathing Suits
Blue Concept Retains aLine Media for Public Relations Representation
Denim industry leader, Blue Concept, has retained aLine media public relations to represent four of their leading brands: Antik Denim, Duarte Jeans, Taverniti So Jeans and Yanuk.
Blue Concept manufactures and wholesales premium fashion collections for a growing stable of better contemporary brands.
As a maker of casual sportswear and jeanswear for men and women, Blue Concept targets its lifestyle brands to fashion forward consumers between their late teens to late thirties. Blue Concept founder and CEO, Paul Guez, established the company in 2004 and has had phenomenal growth.
The past year net sales have increased from $10 million to $30 million.
Net wholesale sales are projected at $70 million for 2005 and forecasted to be over $180 million by 2008.Part of Blue Concept's future growth strategy also includes company-owned retail stores.
The company will open four stores in 2005, twelve in 2006, twenty-four in 2007 and thirty-six in 2008.
...
Jeans > Blue Concept Retains aLine Media for Public Relations Representation
How to Avoid Weight Gain During Chemotherapy
For Patsy M., the cancer was bad enough.Then came the chemo and her energy level took a dramatic tumble while her once trim figure ballooned. She tried watching what she ate. Cut down on portions. Nothing helped. The weight kept climbing.
When she asked her doctor she was told to exercise. It was the best answer to chemo weight-gain. This wasn't what she wanted to hear. She didn't feel like exercising. Some days it was all she could do to move from bed to couch.Then a friend told her about a neighbor who was going through chemo as if it was a Sunday school picnic.
She continued shopping, visiting friends AND EXERCISING. Claimed it had to do with taking some simple sugars called glyconutritionals. "Sounds like one of those whiz-bang miracle things, if you ask me," Patsy replied. "You see them advertised all the time and most of them don't have a stitch of healing in them." Her friend nodded, "I agree, except glyconutritional is a scientific name not a brand name. And my...
How to Avoid Weight Gain During Chemotherapy
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Baseball Cap Turns Fifty
Golfers wear them and so do Brownies. Every Hollywood director since Steven Spielberg did ?Jaws' considers it part of their work wardrobe. It's a US import which like jeans, has become a design classic and an integral part of global culture. And this year it has a special birthday. The baseball cap is fifty.Up until 1954, it was up to individual baseball players to choose a hat to keep the sun out their eyes.
Some went for straw boaters, others preferred jockey caps. There was no consistency amongst players, let alone teams. So, in 1954, a hat company came up with the standard issue cap known as the ?59Fifty'. This brought uniformity to the game and fifty years on, it's still the official cap of Major League Baseball.In the late 70s and early 80s the American public became interested in wearing the caps worn by their favourite team and the big names in the game. The trend took hold and the baseball cap eventually made its way into every part of American society, including Hollywood...
Baseball Cap Turns Fifty
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Levi Strauss Plans New Organic Cotton Denim to go with Fair Hemp T-Shirts
Brooklyn, NY (ContentDesk) June 21, 2006 -- Fair Hemp (WWW.FAIRHEMP.COM), the Sustainable and Sweatshop-Free clothing manufacturer that has used organic cotton exclusively since their first t-shirt, was excited to hear that Levis is preparing to introduce denim made from organic cotton.
Fair Hemp's line of t-shirts are a great compliment to any new pair of organic jeans.
Constructed from 55% organically grown hemp and 45% certified organic cotton, the tees are pre-washed to prevent shrinkage and for a comfortable wear.
The t-shirt styles and fits are distinctly modern with details such as lycra in the neck, tagless collar and a comfortable cut.
Moreover, the tees are dyed with eco-friendly reactive dyes and finished with a natural enzyme (non-gmo of course) for optimum comfort.
Ideal for embroidery, screen printing, or as a basic paired with your favorite organic...
Levi Strauss Plans New Organic Cotton Denim to go with Fair Hemp T-Shirts
Jeans > Levi Strauss Plans New Organic Cotton Denim to go with Fair Hemp T-Shirts
My Wabi-Sabi Master is My Dog
My Wabi-Sabi Master is My DogPerfection is a gooey chew toy on a worn out old blankie By GALINA PEMBROKE Up until recently, three dominant attitudes have ruled my living space: ? my boyfriend's: if it breaks, fix it. ? my own: if it breaks, replace it. ? and my dog's: if it breaks, keep it and love it all the moreWithout realizing it, my dog has been a master practitioner of wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that celebrates the simple and the handmade, including the flaws.Especially the flaws?More than just the appreciation of unpretentious art and craft, wabi-sabi is a uniquely joyful way of viewing and contemplating the world. As Leonard Koren describes it in Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, wabi-sabi is "the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete." It is no coincidence that the first practitioners of wabi-sabi were Zen Buddhist monks and tea-masters.My dog Tucker is a 30-pound, wooly sheltie-crossbreed; painted by the creator with...
My Wabi-Sabi Master is My Dog
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Embellished Belt Buckles from hhh Enterprises: Add Some Glitz to your Hips!
hhh enterprises is pleased to present our exciting new fashion accessory idea of the season: embellished belt buckles and belts. Hip Hip Hooray! Now anyone can give their belts an extreme makeover and turn a regular belt into a glitzy, glamorous fashion accessory. An embellished belt buckle can add instant sparkle to a casual pair of jeans or can glamourize your little black dress or any party outfit. The perfect accessory for your holiday parties, these belts and buckles really stand out in a crowd!Our cast pewter belt buckle can be embellished with almost anything - semi-precious stones, crystals, metal castings, pearls...your imagination's the limit. The silver-toned 93mm buckle is interchangeable with our snap belt.
Buckles are $3.89 each.
Available at: http://estore.hhhenterprises.com/e/G321.htmlThe snap belt is made of calf leather and is designed with a snap for use with the interchangeable...
Jeans > Embellished Belt Buckles from hhh Enterprises: Add Some Glitz to your Hips!
The Metrosexual Man vs. The Cowboy- What Do Women Want?
The Metrosexual Man vs. The Cowboy- What DO Women Want?He always looks perfectly put together. He can be in a t-shirt and jeans or heading out to a black-tie event. His hair never has a bad day. His nails are clean and buffed.
His clothes are perfectly pressed and exquisitely coordinated. He smells like flowers and spice. Is he gay? No, he's the new metrosexual man.As many of you know by now, the term "metrosexual" was coined by a journalist (and gay man) named Mark Simpson, to describe a new kind of urban male who is straight, but in touch with his feminine side and not afraid to show it. Essentially, metrosexuals are guys who take on behaviors and show an interest in things that have traditionally belonged in the female domain.You may have a metrosexual brother, male friend or boyfriend (ex). These are the guys you can shop till you drop with.
They can discuss fashion, will notice your great new shoes, buy their grooming products from the same places you do and have no...
The Metrosexual Man vs. The Cowboy- What Do Women Want?
Jeans > The Metrosexual Man vs. The Cowboy- What Do Women Want?
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