Develops speciality threads in partnership with Reliance & Dupont
Hi-end fashion garments and footwear are all set to make a style statement – with a hint of silver – just enough to give it shimmer. This small but subtle change is being incorporated by Coats Group plc, the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business. This innovative reflective thread, known as Coats Signal thread, has had a global launch in May and is scheduled to be launched in India in June. Technically speaking, the thread has a high level of retro-reflectance when illuminated in dark or low visibility conditions. As for consumer applications, the thread is suited for the fashion industry. Apart from that, when sewn on outdoor and active wear it also helps enhance visibility at night time or in challenging weather conditions.
When used in the top cover of flatseams, the combination of an intricate stitch and the reflective property of the thread gives an eye-catching appearance, besides making the product look premium. It’s understandable that, given its special retro-reflective features, it has a price point in line with a premium thread.
“Coats Signal thread combines the tenacity of a polyester filament cover with a retro-reflective core and has excellent strength and durability. It has a special lubricated finish to protect it from needle heat and ensure smooth sewing, so it retains its reflectivity after the intense sewing, process during apparel production,” said V. Jaigopal, Executive Director, Madura Coats Private Ltd., showing samples of the thread.
Madura Coats is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UK-based Coats Group plc that manufactures a complete range of cotton, synthetic and corespun threads for the Indian and export markets. A visit to its India headquarters in Bangalore revealed many such insights.
Partnering for Innovation
Just when active wear or performance wear began to boast of value-adds like thermal regulation, ultra-violet protection and moisture management, Coats knew it was time to spring into action. “Hi-end sportswear in India has been importing most of the embellishments like zips and threads. An in-house R&D team worked with partners to develop a thread that has low elongation at sewing tensions but is highly elastic when stretched during use in active sports”, explained Jaigopal, throwing light on its intricacies.
The end-result known as the next-generation bio-polymer Sorona has been used in specialty thread application in India and across the globe since 2014. In simple terms, the commonly-used polyester thread can stretch by 20%, but this thread stretches to almost 50%, and yet retains the tension required during sewing.
A few brainstorming sessions with partners like Reliance and DuPont led to this development. This is how it works. Reliance takes the polymer from DuPont and converts it into yarn, Coats then purchases it and converts it into threads. “DuPont is extremely pleased to associate with Coats, the world leader in sewing threads, to bring its next generation bio-polymer Sorona in specialty thread application in India and across the globe. DuPont has exclusively partnered with Reliance Industries in South Asia to bring this novel fiber to the local market,” highlighted Mr. Gowri Shankar Nagarajan, Business Manager, BioMaterials, DuPont India.
He added: “Our two teams worked closely with the Coats technical team located in Ambasamudram, Tamil Nadu, to develop Sorona-based thread product in a very short period of time. Given the novelty that Sorona brings to the sewing thread that has not been seen in the market so far, the Coats marketing team has done a tremendous job in bringing this new product to its customers who are finding significant benefits in a variety of apparel applications.”
When contacted a spokesperson from Reliance Industries Ltd., said: “At Reliance Industries innovation is a key pillar of our growth strategy. The innovation in Polyester Staple Fiber and Polyester Filament Yarns is an outcome of our growth through innovation strategy. It has always been our endeavor to bring out the best through continued innovation in every segment of the apparel industry, right from fibers and yarns to the final fabric and garment, including sewing thread segment. We are proud to be a development partner of choice in Coats’ journey in becoming a leader in thread making.”
When Coats was keen to develop specialty threads with Sorona PTT (Poly Trimethylene Terephthalate), the Reliance team delivered the solution promptly. The Reliance technical team developed a special Sorona PTT-based thread that is finding exceptional use in those fabrics and garments that have a stringent seam quality requirement under higher degrees of seam stress. “It is expected of the Coats marketing team that it will undoubtedly develop this into a global innovation from India and make this specialty thread a shining example of the “Make in India” campaign,” added the spokesperson.
Obviously wherever there’s a gap in the market, Coats tries to address it either through partnerships or in-house innovation. As it is the case of Hemseal, an additional fixing element to the hems of tailored garments. This 2014 innovation is conceptualized to seal the garment hemlines, so that the thread doesn’t rip off over time. Simply put, it fastens the base of outfits like formal trousers, skirts and uniforms. Hemseal can be used on most types of fabrics, including heavier ones requiring additional seam adhesion where it can be incorporated in the overlock stitching.
Value-adds
With time, various innovations have helped position Coats in a different league. “We want to be a value-added partner to customers in apparel and footwear through zips, trims, interlining, threads and services,” reasoned Sandeep Gupta, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Coats India, a division of Madura Coats Private Ltd.
In its effort to offer services, Coats acquired GSD in May 2015. This UK-based company has expertise in management solutions that analyse time, cost and production capability in sewn products to maximize productivity and control costs. It has a software mechanism which is a benchmarking tool for companies to reduce working time. “It helps estimate the time taken to improve the design and thereby scale up production in garment factories,” explained Gupta.
Zipped Up
Numerous client interactions established the fact that ordering a zip is far more complex and painstaking than one can imagine. Coats didn’t take long to arrive at a zip sampling service, which the fashion and textiles industries know as Coats Opti Express. It delivers zips via a web-based state-of-the-art sampling system and provides the fastest and simplest zips sampling service in the market.
“Currently the lead time for a standard zip sample averages 14 daysbut Coats Opti Express reduces this to just five days. The lead time for a fully customised zip can be reduced from several weeks to 10 days,” highlighted Jaigopal.
Here are the specifics. A digital tool helps customers select the most appropriate zip sample for their needs, specify the shade and length and select a puller. Each individual zip comprises several elements, including tape, teeth, slider and puller. But with so many different varieties and styles to each element, the choice can be overwhelming and consequently time consuming. Opti Express has a large and easily searchable online catalogue of components featuring intuitive layouts, automated zip and puller configurators and guidance to select the right zip and puller.
That’s not all. Picking the perfect colour match is also made easy using the Coats ColourCapsure device, and the online application helps locate the closest sample. Custom pullers can be ordered using four rapid sampling options. These include technical drawings for bulk production in two days, 3D plastic samples printed and the Coats propriety cast metal prototype, the ProtoPul, in five days. It is also possible to track the order request at all times by logging on to the online system.
The new service has been piloted in China, Sri Lanka, the UK and the US and is now being rolled out to more customers. The next phase of the project will be to add a ‘Bulk’ order facility to help convert sample requests to bulk orders. The service will be launched in India by the end of this year.
Fashion industry, a booster
To a large extent, desi fashion trends have encouraged the company to experiment with various techniques and add that necessary dosage to Indian textiles. As explained by Jaigopal: “In our 2014 results, Asia and Australasia sales increased by 4% year-on-year with growth across the region. A key growth driver was apparel and footwear sales in India.”
Understandably so, because fast fashion trends represented by several apparel brands change every 45 days. Given this limited shelf life, the turnaround time for apparels should be hastened. To meet industry needs, the R&D team arrived at a colour matching device which is known as Coats Colour Express. This device, combined with a web-based application, transmits the consumer’s sampling requirement with accurate definition to the sampling laboratory and subsequently production happens within minutes of placing the sample order. The application also provides a real time tracking the status of the sample order.
Many of these manufacturing operations happen across 10 locations in India. However the flagship manufacturing unit is in Ambasamudram, set in the picturesque banks of the Tamaraparani river near Tirunelveli. An audio visual presentation took us through the end-to-end-processing that happens in the plant, including interlining manufacturing, thread manufacturing, dyeing lab and cotton processing, among other facilities.
The Indian company traces its roots back to the 1880s when Andrew and Frank Harvey, two intrepid Scotsmen on horseback, crossed the picturesque Tamaraparani river and set up a factory which pioneered spinning in south India.
Globally, the origins of Coats can be traced to the families that created the weaving and textile industries of Paisley, Scotland, during the late 18th century. With time, the company spread its wings in more than 70 countries.
Even as this story goes to print, it turned out that this year is historic for Coats. “Our preliminary results for 2014 released at the end of February included the announcement that Guinness Peat Group plc changed its name to Coats Group plc. This established Coats as the standalone, listed entity and signalled its return to the market in the 125th anniversary year of our initial listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1890,” summed up Jaigopal.
Considering revenues clocking $1,686 million (as of December 2014), it is hoped that Coats strings together many more meaningful threads.
Coats Corner
• One in five garments on the planet is held together using Coats thread
• More than 100 million car airbags are made using Coats thread every year
• Every three hours Coats makes enough thread to go to the moon and back
• In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
• Thousands of surgical operations take place every day using Coats thread
