Merchandising and Manufacturing become one at SOURCING AT MAGIC this August
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| The Zund Cutter is one of the technologies featured in the Merchandising Integrated Micro-Factory in SOURCING AT MAGIC |
August 12th thru
the 15th, the Made in USA section of SOURCING AT MAGIC in the North Hall of the
Las Vegas Convention Center will introduce a working model of the world’s first
Merchandising Integrated Micro-Factory on the convention floor. This
factory developed by AM4U, Inc. enables Demand Manufacturing for instant
in-season replenishment of hot fashion sellers or replacement of slow movers.
Real-time merchandising adjustments that long lead times from foreign suppliers
make impossible. "No out of stock and no overstock" is a
merchandiser’s dream! Featuring equipment from the top digital
manufacturing vendors integrated by AM4U, Inc. the factory will produce apparel
on demand displayed and ordered from an Endless Aisle merchandising kiosk. SOURCING
AT MAGIC attendees can select apparel or accessories from a Virtual Inventory
displayed in high definition. The digital SKU’s appearing on the
screen in 3D will then be transformed from white fabric into colored actual
finished apparel using the on site Integrated Micro-Factory.
The Integrated
Micro-Factory is one of the new technologies developed by AM4U to revitalize
the apparel sector of the US economy by providing product choice, increased
profitability and thousands of sustainable jobs. Risk free product choice
from "change-on-the-fly" digital manufacturing technology, increased
profitability by reducing the almost 60% overproduction driven by overseas lead
times and sustainable jobs as demonstrated by the reproducible non-polluting
Integrated Micro-Factories on the convention center floor.
Witness History
For the first time
anywhere, SOURCING AT MAGIC will link actual working Integrated Micro Factories
to a Retail “Endless Aisle” virtual inventory merchandising portal. The Endless
Aisle merchandising pop-up allows brands and retailers the ability to offer a
massive a Virtual Inventory with the additional on-site benefits of fabric feel
and trial fitting. Connecting merchandising to manufacturing in a real-time
model is the key factor in creating profitability of the new era of Demand
Sourcing. The ability to tie retail product merchandising
movement directly to replenishment product manufacturing can increase retail
sell-through to levels that assure profitability at normal
mark-ups. SOURCING AT MAGIC understands that for many product groups
and retailers the technology and application of Virtual Inventories and digital
manufacturing is ready for commercial application. In addition this
environmentally clean technology with its ability to change colors and prints
on the fly without minimums or long lead times is the ultimate in lean
manufacturing. One of the impediments to implementation is that many
brands and retailers have not seen an Integrated Micro-Factory in operation and
those that have seen a working factory are still unclear about the integrated merchandising
strategies available.
Linking the retail
“Endless Aisle” kiosk with a Virtual Inventory filled with SKU’s from on site
state of the art visual design systems creates and risk free unlimited
inventory. These SKU’s exist only in digital form until selected
from the Endless Aisle visual catalog and transformed into physical high
quality apparel in the Integrated Micro-Factory. The integration of
manufacturing with replenishment based on actual sales allows the retailer to
operate with a minimum of actual product in a localized distribution pipeline
while drawing from an endless aisle of virtual product stored a no risk in
digital form.
SOURCING AT MAGIC Plans to Provide a
Path for Made in USA Apparel Recovery
SOURCING AT MAGIC a part
of UBM’s biannual MAGIC Apparel Show the largest apparel show in the western
hemisphere is unveiling a plan to return apparel manufacturing to the
U.S. The plan is based on sustainable digital manufacturing
technology integrated with Demand Sourcing based on real-time
point of sale replenishment. The proven manufacturing technology
will be driven by actual product sales with change-on-the-fly adjustment and or
replacement for fast selling or non-selling items. SOURCING AT MAGIC will begin
in August to feature more and more U.S. companies using digital manufacturing
and Integrated Micro-Factories to provide this next generation of merchandising
to brands and retailers.
The Plan will have the
overall goal of raising full retail price sell through above an average of 60%
of on hand inventory. Since current sell through at retail price is
less than 25% this increase will allow the lowering of average consumer price
while almost doubling the gross sales profit for manufacturers, brands and
retailers. In addition since the inventory is stored digitally until
sold the upfront costs of factoring or financing and the cost and risk of
warehousing are eliminated. SOURCING AT MAGIC understands that the
only incentives for change that work in a market driven economy are profit and
risk reduction, which are the principal goals of this
project. SOURCING AT MAGIC believes that pursuing this growth plan
will provide needed financial incentive to the popular “Buy American” and “Made
in the USA” programs we hear about every day.
More information about
the key Principals of Demand Manufacturing can be found at AM4U.com
