TABLE OF CONTENTS

Volume 1, Issue 2, Winter 2001
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COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IMAGE TWIN SYSTEM AND THE 3T6 BODY SCANNER

Lashawnda Mckinnon and Cynthia Istook
North Carolina State University

Technology has radically changed the manner in which anthropometric data is collected. Consequently, the apparel industry along with others has begun to explore utilizing this technology to provide mass customization, improve ergonomical design, and an array of other applications. There is a need to better understand how these measurements coincide with comparable physical measurements. This study evaluated the body scan data rendered by two TC2 scanners, the Image Twin (2T4) and the 3T6 in comparison to physical measurements. Results suggest that there has been significant improvement in the newer version, Image Twin, however there are still many areas that need to be explored further as is detailed in this article.

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MARKETING FASHION COLOR FOR PRODUCT LINE EXTENSION IN THE DEPARTMENT STORE CHANNEL

Marguerite Moore
University of Tennessee

Nancy L. Cassill
North Carolina State University

David G. Herr and Nicholas Williamson
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Consumer demand, advances in manufacturing and retailing technology, and globalization contribute to an increasingly competitive domestic apparel market. In order to compete, retailers and manufacturers adopt aggressive product strategies designed to capture discerning consumers. A popular strategy for product line extension in the apparel industry is the addition of fashion color to core lines. Academics and practitioners alike have suggested that color can stimulate interest and, subsequently, sales of apparel products. The current study examines the impact of visible fashion color on sales of women's core apparel products in the department store context through a quasi-experimental approach. Hypothesis tests suggest that greater depth and magnitude of fashion color does not increase sales of either fashion color or basic color apparel. Managerial implications are offered for product strategy as well as future directions for academic research.

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FASCIATED YARNS - A REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT?

William Oxenham
North Carolina State University

While Vortex Spinning is hailed as a revolutionary new technology it can also be viewed as a natural development in the technology of fasciated yarn production. From the earliest inception of fasciated yarns it was evident that there were limitations, which precluded its wide acceptance. From an understanding of the factors behind these limitations it has been possible to institute developments that have ultimately resulted in the present MVS system, which is being predicted to have profound impact on the cotton spinning industry.

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CARDING OF MICROFIBERS

Yoon J. Hwang, William Oxenham and Abdelfattah M. Seyam
Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center
North Carolina State University

Microfibers, used alone or in blends, have created considerable interest in the apparel industry because of their potentially greater comfort and functionality. Additionally, their lower diameter, greater surface area and flexibility offer many applications in areas of nonwovens such as filtration, man-made leather, protective clothing, and wipes. Unfortunately the properties of microfibers that make them attractive for the above applications are also the same properties that lead to difficulties in processing. The paper is an account of systematic experimental investigation into the processing of microfibers on a flat card. The effects of fiber and carding parameters on web quality were determined by assessing the nep content and fiber length after carding. Statistical analyses of the data indicate that all the main parameters studied have an influence on web quality. Furthermore it is shown that there is a strong correlation between the incidents of neps and the increase in short fiber content during carding. An additional observation is that the generation of neps was not uniform across the width of the card and appeared to be influenced by variation in the fiber loading on the doffer across the card.

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FROM MASS PRODUCTION TO MASS CUSTOMIZATION

Michael T. Fralix
Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation - [TC]2
Cary, North Carolina

With the advent of the industrial revolution and interchangeable parts, manufacturing moved from the craft era to the mass production era. Today there is a new era emerging and it is called Mass Customization. Mass Customization takes the best of the craft era, when customers had products built to their specifications but only the elite could afford them, with the best of the mass production era, when everybody could get the same product because it was affordable. This presentation will highlight the development of Mass Customization and how the sewn products industry is positioned to capitalize on it. As progressive companies trade their traditional production concepts and practices for powerful mass customization techniques, this presentation will provide insight into the integration of information technology, mechanization, and team-based flexible manufacturing. Emerging technologies for mass customization such as three-dimensional non-contact body measurement and digital printing will also be discussed.

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EVOLVING STRATEGIES, STRUCTURES AND RELATIONSHIPS IN COMPLEX AND TURBULENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS: THE TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRIES OF THE NEW MILLENIUM - PART 2.

Peter Kilduff
North Carolina State University

Over the past three decades the textile and apparel industries have experienced radical changes in their product, process and business technologies, the definition of their markets, the nature of demand, and the form, diversity and intensity of the competition they are facing. As a result, many of today's firms look radically different to their counterparts of twenty years ago in terms of their capital and technical intensity, their manufacturing and business process capabilities, and their business scope, structure and relationships. In the future, firms will continue to be confronted with growing market diversity, far reaching technological change and intensifying competitive pressures. In combination, these factors will make the competitive environment in which textile and apparel manufacturers operate increasingly, dynamic, diverse, complex and hostile. As a result, the organizational structures and scope of firms in the industries will continue to be re-shaped. New strategies and organisational forms will emerge with a trend towards de-integration, involving a focus on core competencies and the separation of the physical processing functions from the creative 'brain functions' within the supply chain. In some ways, this represents a return to the pre-industrial system of manufacture, where physical production was in the hands of commission manufacturers, while the creative design and marketing functions were performed by merchants.

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