Transforming manufacturing through the Total Fashion System

「また、マーケット拡大に向けた高付加価値市場への拡販や非アパレル市場への参入強化を進めるとともに、」

「At SAMPE Japan Advanced Materials Technology Exhibition 2024, held at Tokyo Big Sight in September, the Group exhibited P-CAM120C, a compact cutting machine with customizable cutting lengths to meet individual needs, and APEXFitPGM, subscription-based CAD software offering high efficiency and operability through enhanced integration with cutting machines. It promoted the advantages of its products to the industrial materials, apparel, automotive, furniture and interior industries by introducing examples of cutting various materials for each industry.」

「By actively addressing these challenges facing the apparel and fashion industries and changes in the business environment, our Group is turning them into opportunities to contribute to society and develop its business. To achieve the vision of where we should be in 10 years, we have redefined our corporate philosophy and formulated the three-year medium-term management plan Ever Onward 2026, which begins in fiscal 2024.」

「At ITMA ASIA + CITME 2022, an international textile machinery exhibition held in Shanghai, China, in November, the Company carried forward the Reborn concept from ITMA Milan, held in June. It exhibited the latest models, including the SWG-XR 22L prototype, a next-generation WholeGarment flat knitting machine with an ultrafine gauge, and the N.SIR123SP shaping machine, presenting products and solutions to its core markets that improve production efficiency and enhance business value through advanced product development capabilities.」

「At ITMA 2023, the international textile machinery exhibition held in Milan in June, the Group exhibited prototypes including SWG-XR, a WholeGarment knitting machine equipped with new technologies such as a needle-defect detection system and a loose-yarn processing system under the Reborn concept, as well as SES-R, a new shaped knitting machine, and SFG-R, a new glove-knitting machine. It communicated to the industry its ability to improve production efficiency and create higher added value through advanced product-development capabilities.」

「We will accelerate our initiatives in the solutions business by advancing DX in product planning and manufacturing, including proposals for operating methods that combine digital data such as yarn and 3D data from APEXFiz, yarnbank and SHIMA Datamall.」

「We rolled out proposals for products and services supporting sustainable manufacturing, including expanded sales of our strategic whole-garment flat knitting machines and growth of the solutions business, to customers and industries worldwide.」

「Under the medium-term management plan “Ever Onward 2023,” our group conducted proposal activities for products and services supporting sustainable manufacturing, including expanded sales of WholeGarment flat knitting machines and expansion of the solutions business, for customers and industries.」

「Under the medium-term management plan “Ever Onward 2023,” our group conducted proposal activities worldwide for products and services supporting sustainable manufacturing, including expanded sales of WholeGarment flat knitting machines and expansion of the solutions business. At “Techtextil 2022,” an international exhibition for the technical textiles industry held in Frankfurt, Germany, in June, we exhibited prototype knitting machines and samples for industrial materials, promoted the potential of the business, and pursued approaches to new markets.」

「During the third quarter, physical exhibitions gradually resumed. At SAMPE Japan Advanced Materials Technology Exhibition 2021, held at Tokyo Big Sight in November, the Group exhibited an automatic cutting machine for industrial materials designed to deliver high efficiency, productivity and quality, as well as CAD systems, presenting a broad range of solutions.」

「Against this economic backdrop, the Group focused on proposing products, services and solutions to customers and industries worldwide to help resolve their challenges, including WholeGarment knitting machines that greatly expand the potential of knitwear products and design systems that can dramatically improve the efficiency of product-planning processes through virtual samples, as well as solutions to transform the business models of production plants and apparel companies and achieve sustainable manufacturing. In July, it launched APEXFitPGM, apparel and design CAD software dedicated to pattern making, grading and marking, as an additional offering under APEXFit, its subscription service for design software addressing increasingly diverse work arrangements.」

「At ITMA ASIA + CITME, the international textile machinery exhibition held in Shanghai in June, and at a solo exhibition held in Hong Kong around the same time, we proposed total solutions for sustainable manufacturing, including a prototype of a next-generation WholeGarment flat knitting machine presented online and new digitally enabled production systems such as “APEXFit,” a subscription service for design software that accommodates increasingly diverse working arrangements.」

「In customer industries, there is an urgent need to establish the “ideal business model”: moving away from the traditional model based on long lead times and mass production and mass consumption, producing only the quantity needed when it is needed, and delivering products that meet market needs and provide high consumer satisfaction to consumers within short lead times.」

「To help resolve challenges in user industries, our group strengthened proposals for total solutions, including new digitally enabled production systems centered on WholeGarment flat knitting machines and 3D design systems that enable mass customization and on-demand production, while further promoting sustainable manufacturing. We also expanded “yarnbank,” the world’s first web service allowing yarn manufacturers worldwide to register their latest yarn information and digital yarn data, which apparel companies, knitwear manufacturers, and other users can freely browse and search, and began offering a new service of “APEXFit,” a subscription service for SDS-ONE APEX software, ahead of its full launch as a trial, focusing on stimulating users’ willingness to invest.」

「We also launched “yarnbank,” the world’s first web service enabling users to search, view, and download yarns from around the world, and focused on stimulating users’ willingness to invest by proposing new services that digitally connect the entire supply chain, including yarn manufacturers, apparel companies, and knitwear manufacturers.」

「To help address challenges facing user industries, the Group focused on proposing total solutions centered on mass customization, the WholeGarment knitting machines enabling on-demand production, and the 3D design system SDS-ONE APEX4, together with new production systems making full use of digital technology. However, this did not lead to a recovery in net sales.」

「Under these circumstances, we have actively made proposals aimed at transitioning to a business model that enables sustainable manufacturing using our products.」

「At ITMA 2019, the international textile machinery exhibition held in Barcelona in June, we proposed various solutions for sustainable manufacturing, including “MADE2FIT,” a system enabling optimal mass customization in the apparel industry, and “KNITify the World,” the deployment of 3D knitting technology for non-apparel fields.」

「Our company is also promoting sustainable manufacturing to the industry through a “Total Fashion System” that uses WholeGarment flat knitting machines and a design system for producing high-definition 3D virtual samples.」

「Amid these global trends, to firmly capture business opportunities, our group has made “advancing differentiation strategies and expanding business domains” and “strengthening proactive investment for future growth” the main scenarios of the new medium-term management plan, and aims to achieve its medium-term management targets by pursuing the following 4 growth strategies.」

「We will advance the transformation of manufacturing through our Total Fashion System and contribute to the development of the fashion industry.」