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Smart Fabrics
Due to the evolving needs of the customers in the clothing industry, for a company to remain competitive in the market it has to respond to these needs. Technology is one of the ways in which companies can use to remain competitive and respond to the changes in the market. In the clothing industry, technology helps in the designing of products, improvement of the quality of the fabrics and in their distribution. Technology is necessary in all four stages that any product goes through before it reaches the consumer; the production and design stage, the manufacturing stage, the sales and marketing stage and the delivery stage.
An important part of this technology that the Kucera Clothiers Company can apply is the implementation of smart fabrics. Smart fabrics are materials that are specifically made to change in response to their environment. They are fabrics that allow digital components, computing and electronic components to be incorporated in their designs. This is the reason they are called smart clothing or intelligent fabrics. The two main broad categories in which smart fabrics can be divided in to are; smart fabrics with electronic devices like conducting wires, light emitting diodes and batteries and the smart fabrics with electronics directly on the fibers of the fabric. The latter might include wires or conducting fibers or advanced technology like solar cells, diodes and transistors. Fibertronics is the term used to refer to the art of fitting advanced technology onto fabrics (E-merge, 2011).
The company shall require establishing a whole wing of fibertronic research and a laboratory to aid the same if it were to venture into this kind of business. Just as it is in electronics, the incorporation of electronic capabilities in the textile fibers requires the incorporation of conductive textiles. These shall have to be either produced within the company or bought externally and their cost shall be quite expensive. Some of the materials that would allow the incorporation into textiles include organic fiber transistors and organic solar cells. These are used since they allow the folding of clothing and are less stiff than the metals thus allowing incorporation into the textiles.
In the choice of materials, the company shall see it important to select materials that are fit for the purpose in which they are going to be used. These choices in fabric have to ensure that the fabrics are of not only the appropriate quality but also are cost effective in terms of purchase price and sales price. Making this important choice shall ensure that the fabric shall be of the right quality, cost and to ensure that the target market is satisfied with it. This shall also ensure that the role the product is supposed to play in the market is fulfilled. When making this choice, the company and the task force it shall have chosen to spearhead this venture shall have to analyze the questions concerning the content of the fiber, if natural or synthetic. They shall also have to formulate whether the fabrics shall be non-woven, knitted or woven (Thiry, 2009).
Another question shall be concerning the process of manufacturing that the company wishes to venture in. For instance they shall have to select between the options of mechanical finishing, printing, dyeing or chemical finishing. Another important question that the taskforce should place on the table is the target market and the product they intend to produce, whether sportswear, jeans, office wear or even an accessory like a scarf or a cap. Another inevitable question is about the aftercare of the clothing after it leaves the manufacturer’s premises and gets on the hands of the consumer. This involves how the clothing shall be washed, dried, ironed or dry-cleaned to avoid spoilage. These questions shall be key in determining the construction of the fabric, the finishing process that is employed, the fabric’s aesthetic capabilities and finally its functional capabilities.
The costs incurred in the venture are a very important subject since the aim of the company initiating the venture is to earn profits and to satisfy the demands of its customers. The manufacturing of the smart fabrics shall incur heavy costs especially in the sourcing for the raw materials and in the laboratory costs for putting the raw materials and the textiles together. Other costs shall include research and development costs, sales and marketing costs and production costs. This however should not be a discouraging factor for the company, as the new line of smart clothing shall become the clothing of the future. As time lapses and technological advances are made, many people shall want to be ahead of the technology or keep up with it. Therefore, smart clothing shall fall into place into the general market and move from the niche market where it is currently located.
The company should then aim to target specific clients in specialized fields like sports personalities, medical practitioners and their patients, office-working professionals or entertainment lovers just but to name a few. As the time lapses, the rate of return on the investment shall be high since the company shall have anticipated the future need of these smart textiles and shall have a ready production line, customer base, a marketing strategy and dedicated funds to work on the venture. Therefore, while competitors are working hard to keep up, Kucera Clothiers Company shall be in the front line with a lion’s share of the market. Here the company shall be reaping from whence it sowed. The research that the company shall have carried out shall place it on the front line and other companies shall seek counsel on from it on the subject (Fralix, 2006).
The security issues that the company shall concern itself with shall be mainly in the protection of its designs and its ideas from reaching competitors. This shall involve ensuring staff that handle delicate company matters are well paid to avoid industrial espionage. Moreover, the scientists doing the research work for the company require motivation to improve their output and help protect the company secrets. This is mainly because most attacks on a company come from within it and they mostly start with a disgruntled employee. Other security issues include technological security. This means that the company has to ensure that it always remains top notch in terms of technology. This is because its products on this venture deal with the latest technology.
The products shall make the organization far more efficient. This shall help the company in anticipating the high output periods. This shall work to the company’s advantage since it shall have been experienced in the field. This shall work to increase the company’s efficiency in the field also because the planning shall have taken several years to put into place and therefore by the time the peak production periods are reached the company shall have had firm strategies in place to run the venture successfully. Productivity levels shall also increase as at the time the peak production period shall reach. This is due to the proficiency level that the company shall have achieved as at the time the peak levels are reached.
Technology, proficiency and patience are very important for Kucera Clothiers Company as they engage in the smart clothes venture. Moreover, the company shall require having a good vetting process to ensure they acquire the right staff for the job since it is quite a sensitive venture. Kucera Clothiers Company should highly consider taking up the smart clothing venture since it should mean high future income for the company. The company should also highly consider the venture since it should attract a higher customer base due to the futuristic clothing that it shall be producing. The smart clothing venture is a wise venture to engage in and Kucera Clothiers Company should take it up. The growth of the company shall be like shown in the graph below:
As is observed, the growth of this company started slightly below the zero mark. This indicates the time in which the foundation was being laid. The company then grew steadily since the product is slowly venturing into the market and is being gradually accepted (Peak Oil Australia, 2011).
References
E-merge. (2011). Technology trends for the fashion/apparel industry. Retrieved from http://e-merge.posterous.com/archive/6/2011
Fralix, M. (2006). Technology advancements in the Global Apparel Industry. Retrieved from
Peak Oil Australia. (2011). Positive lifetime growth graph. Retrieved from http://www.peakoil.org.au/news/eroei.3.lifetime.25.growth.5.gif
Thiry, M. (2009). Smart fabrics for today and tomorrow. Retrieved from http://aatcc.informz.net/admin31/content/template.asp?sid=2575&ptid=99&brandid=4199&uid=0&mi=229771
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