Nigel TAYLOR
Oct 29, 2021
Manufacturer Creative Apparel to open state of the art eco factory
Nigel TAYLOR
Oct 29, 2021
UK clothing manufacturer Creative Apparel is to move to a new state-of-the-art eco facility in Stockport in 2022.
The “ground-breaking smart factory” will allow the company to target “green growth through sustainable style”, it said.
The fully-digitalised factory will feature a central IT system that “drives and measures smart machinery, linking production through to its customers and supply chain”.
Meanwhile, the facility will also feature renewable energy sources include rainwater harvesting, solar power, wind turbines, air-source heating and eco fans “to support the introduction of modern, high-tech machinery to enable a more sustainable approach to production”.
Made Smarter, the government-led industry-backed technology adoption programme, has supported the factory’s development with a £20,000 grant for a data and systems integration project “that will automate and speed up the process of receiving orders right through to production management and dispatch”.
Creative Apparel has also secured a further £20,000 for a project that uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools "to collect fashion data from social media influencers and other sources, enabling designers to respond quicker and more effectively to trends”.
Managing Director Phil Millar said putting technology at the heart of growth plans “will increase turnover fourfold within five years and create 50 new high value jobs”.
He added that productivity is forecast to increase by 30%, and waste is set to reduce by 20%, “but crucially, the business will lessen the environmental and social impact of the clothes they make”, he added.
Established in 1988, Creative Apparel employs over 80 people and produces around 50,000 items of clothing each week for the fast fashion industry, specialising in screen printing and embroidery.
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