This is a transcript of a talk given at PI Apparel Vietnam by Elly Cheng, Director of Digital Product Creation at Makalot Industrial. The recording of this talk can be viewed in full here.
Glad to see you all here. And my name is Elly Cheng. Just let me introduce myself again because you won't see my name again during the PowerPoint because I kind of represent the manufacturer today, to talk a little bit about the truth of the digital product creation in the manufacturing history.
Well, I believe a lot of people down here that actually joined the several times of the meeting. So it definitely heard a lot of successful experiences or the roadmaps about shared by the brands. Design is how they utilize 3D tools to kind of cut down the TOS or speak to the market or probably saving some money during the whole process.
So as anyone does ever, like, can you describe, explain to you the who are working with those Sprint designers who make this happen? And I think this is the manufacturers. So when Cameron bring amazing true to life Sue do the now I have to just kind of bring everyone down to the ground and talk about a little bit of practical process.
So hopefully just somebody is nothing had a wide So just let me start with the presentation the truth of DPC in manufacturing industry. So before getting started with the PowerPoint, I would like to talk a little bit about the company I'm from. I'm from Makalot. This is a top ten manufacturing common manufacturer. So this is just a little bit to I'm going to kind of introduce my company a little bit so they will understand the reason why I'm telling you that I'm probably capable of being here to talk about the solutions to how we work with the brand.
So is founded in Taiwan. Yes, I'm from Taiwan. In 1990 and then we keep on expanding and then we IPO in 2003. And just while we just increasing all the category and the production countries as well as we kind of the making a lot of innovative efforts and during the really difficult times, as you can see up there, that we joined the national team to create the protective gear.
So we are capable of making the medical garment and along with the time that we reach about $1 billion in sales until 2021, and then we keep on growing on those cells. And just quickly kind of introduce that we do have a 17 factory owned factory in within like five countries and and more like we collaborate in factories and those garment factories is not just making garments only.
We also do the additional value add ons like including special levers, like a washing embroidery or something like with a printing. And as you can see down here that we got all the certificate that requires from all our collaborate brands and because today's not going to introduce my company, so I'll just flush all the history really quick. And next part is so we do have our own meal so we can provide the end to end the service to vertical service, including the fabric research and kind of like simplify.
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So you can just bring any idea and the fabrications provide the best the service and data from proven analysis to that. We can just do the forecasting sourcing fund and DP WG is. And so anything that you want to do, we can just do the most value product survey and provide to you and co-creation here down to the creation.
So we think about the co-creation is the all the brand. Our claim, the custom of asking for some of the design. Probably the design is like, would you come out about ten designs and run out of ideas? So you just come to us and saying, I want this a style. I want kind of like five variations. So we do got our design team, so we just will bring out all the ideas and then we use TPC to make it come true like a real before making any symbols.
This is our service and hints come to our partners. As you can see up here that we do walkways, a lot of kind of wholesalers or a high end brand, and then some of the uniform customers, which means that our category is covering from the activewear to high end wear like a fashion wear champion and including ready to wear and into me swimwear.
And as you can see down here is that we do have some e-com and wearable garments which is we collaborated was you know the most famously in Taiwan. It actually is electro atomic companies. So we collaborate with those companies to do the smart way and we think the wearable gears. So is not only working on the activewear but also the long term.
Take care that this is all the customers are working with, which means that we produce the garment covering so many categories and front ladies, men's kids, babies, even babies. So we are kind of experiencing all different like developing process, working with the digital process. And just let me get to the key point. The sea product creation tailwind comes again.
So just let's take a look that the very first time when we you seeing the 3D digital tools is 2006. So the reason why the mothers work choose to working in with us on the 3D is because no one's going to be in pregnant situations like seven months forever, isn't it? So it's really hard to find properly the fitting models at this moment.
So 3D becomes a great I see a great deal to be a solution, but I believe that everyone down here is or understand that that moment, like 2006, no matter hot wear or software, they're all still a long way to go. So like there's few important moments I would like to bring out is that on 2008, I think our one of the biggest clients target, they've got amazing visions, so they just kind of jump in this long journey with, I would say at the very beginning is not takes and anyone like you seen the software like before, it will know that the speed wise or the pen wise, the manufacturer and need to make a list to set of pattern to show the real effect.
I'm not quite sure if the anyone experiencing that time. That means that fabrication cannot display properly at the moment, so that if we want to make a gown with like model fabric, which is like this body lens is 35, but once you put it on the avatar, there were shows like 737, but three cannot show that fact.
So which means we have to make the 37 inches length and then put on the avatar to show the customer what the virtual sample is. So that is kind of double work. At that time, there wasn't really saving anything. So when it comes to 2007 and meanwhile along the time, I think you can see a lot of like a big customers joining us.
And then when it comes to 2017, as anyone know what's happened at that time and make the 3DS all works out now. I think hallway works really well. The computers, the gears and everything and including the graphic car, as Cameron just mentioned, that rendering takes a long time. So once the computer hardware pick up and everything is go smoother at that moment.
So as you can see after 12 and 17, there's a lot of like bigger companies is coming. Join us, including all the brands up there. I'm just not going to chalk up all of your and this is the timeline that we working was so his comes to the deal then we're talking about the truth on before that let me just talk about what we are working with all our customers in during the process.
How we utilize the 3D creations at the very first is a concept. I believe everyone knows that making a brand new 3D is almost take the same time as making a physical sample is. I agree with that. Yes. Thank you. So what's the three most valuable part is they can change things really quick immediately and you can see it right away.
So as you can see up there, they're rolling down the hoodie. They can be modified to those three styles, just really where in 10 minutes you can just have those variations right away. Quickly. So that's what three can do faster. And next part is that one design to have the design look done. There was like, All right, let me just nail down into the details how they can make it.
They just look at the 3D and they probably just draw a light onto it and just telling us, Hey, this is what we want so we can just change it immediately. So this will only take two days or within one day so we can just make the revision to you how long it's going to take in the old days, probably one or two weeks, honestly.
Right. So people is like thinking about the time making the sample arranged in some each submitted to the office, wait until 2D or design a look at it, have the meeting and when the comments coming back. The second round comes is about two weeks time, but now is two days. So that's really valuable. Is a short time the lead time?
And once the design was finalized here's come to assortment. I think that's the most important part that everyone was looking at all our clients, customers or anyone that work with us. They're all talking about can I get rid of some of myself? And simple, can I just get rid of the size wrong or the simple wrong color wrong?
Is it going to be possible? Yes, we can do that quickly by changing the color. As long as you have a digital file with a graphic is first. But here's one thing. There's a design used to ask me the can I Right now there's a swatch next to my computer and compare the color of that. Correct. Can that be compare?
I mean, that that's that's sort of interesting question I received while I'm doing the product developing I believe everyone here not to say it's not going to be happens but why are you doing the product developing with the new technique? Here's always a sort of interesting questions, but I would just explain a little bit later. And then next part we were talking about is the graphic.
I think when the economy coming back, it's all the fancy little work. It is coming back, especially right now. We have a lot of holidays is coming. So how to manage those always how to scale the print or the all works of print. So the 3-D is really a good tool to work on because the pattern is won't change.
You just change. It'll all work is right away and continuously is a drop size. As everyone knows the rain now the garment needs to fulfill not just the core size, not the standard size, but every body, all kinds of body types. So size right now is a good idea to use to kind of present all different looks and continuously.
We're talking a little bit about crowdsourcing testing, which means that before anything made, you can show to your customer and let them to decide if they want it or not. So this is a great tool that you can kind of test the volume online. And then we're going to talk about element Mirror, how you're going to use it, and then compile the online and offline.
So this is currently how we work with our customer on the product developing and all kinds of usage. And that comes to a question, let me just play a little video down here. This is how we collaborate with our brands and get this on the graphics. This is our own design. So as you can see that we simulate the special laborers on the printing with all different like prints, rubber print, flocking or embroidery or foil print.
You might think like, is that going to happen? We just similar them all through 3D. Do you think that 3D is good enough to kind of represent all kinds of all the details? Let me just coming back a little bit, just let us stay this page. I think probably a lot of people who are working with you might receive the request for your customer and saying that, well, now I'm using new fabrication and now I have a new body and please use 3D to simulate that now.
And I would like to see the new things coming by. Simulation Well that be working well, according to my experience working in the deep sea, that that won't be true because all little construction difference will make the garment different like the seam right now is by overlooking or is by foot for French seam of a floating the water from the stressed stretch or the tension there are all different.
So once these come to the new thing and definitely have to be physical, then we'll talk up later. And when we talk about the special labor, everyone knows that we do need them to make the strike off to understand the real look, So how we similar them and how can we say that's presentable. Bryan Can you just click the video again to show that again to everyone?
So what we are doing actually is for all the technique down here, but definitely ask a factory to make a strike off. So then we will have the effect on hand and then we scan the effect into the computer. Also, we're using Visa. I'm an just I didn't take any from these but that do the skin things out perfectly as this way.
So we scan the effects into the computer and then we change to our work. We take the effect to simulate the our work. So the when we call it like have simulation, that's the way that you can just combine the digital physical is more a little bit like technical thing. So hopefully people get bored by seeing that. So that's the technical part.
So above all, like spatial fibers about a simple savings, what it comes to the benefits, this is like a typical answer. You might see this page from all the software providers, whereas a speed of course I would just mention two weeks versus two days and variety. Of course, once you done things faster, you got more times, more opportunities.
Again, more options. Consistency as we just bring now to the front page of that. If you start from a consistent block, of course your fitting will be just consistent all the way and sustainability not even mentioned you saving all the materials re dyes, raw materials and experience is one of the things that we learned a lot is that do you know how long you're going to take to trim a pacemaker like from scratch?
I'll say in my company it take 3 to 5 years. Why? Because we make in so many categories, of course. But you really need times to train those technicians. And Reiner, I believe all the manufacturers face the same situation is that the experience Masters is going to retire. And where are the next generation coming up? And I'm not helping selling 3D software to honestly saying that the 3D is a good tool, that you can kind of establish your experience really fast, vast experience.
But every time when I go over this page, my client will ask me, So what can we save? Is always talking about saving, right? So what can we say? We just kind of a general way, labor, transportation and material. That's where the thinking can be safe. So we talk about transportation, the material doing those like two years difficult time, everyone knows.
Yeah, it definitely safe. You don't need to send a stuffed oversea or kind of a retiree the raw materials or kind of a having all the goods stuck in custom. It definitely save the transportation and material part about the labor like kind of image that if you hire a news 3D specialist versus hire a saw cannot be equal.
Do you know how hard I mean, like some people here, like definitely experiencing to hire a qualified 3D specialist. It's not just someone that knows computer. They need to know better making, they need to know constructions. They need to be computer friendly and willing to embrace the new technology. So how much are you going to pay for them versus a solar so arena?
If you hire a 3D specialist and saying that she can make how many samples a day, so how many labor you have to cut them to make it up, This is the labor is going to be cut down. that's the answer. That's the so far into the labor is going down, especially we still have to buy the really, really expensive hotwire and so rent sorry, the software provider have to rent the software as well.
So that's all the cost. So every time like the customer coming in and say, hey, come on, we, you seen the 3D, can we just get some of the simple we get a lot of them out. Can we just get cheaper? I'm telling you the truth. No, not at all. Not at all. So far the why isn't that going to save?
There's some of the tips and tricks in between the flow. That's the answer. Have you ever heard that people saying about digital twins and physical twins? Like I think the provider video providers always say, hey, let's just come and do it. Make a physical twins. Let me just create the 3D exactly the same as the physical one. So you have things have the bigger physical sample cut down.
It's going to be the reason why we're using 3D. Now, let me see the next page. This is the original sentence from one of our clients. They're saying, Let me just read it out. Now we need the virtual sample to replace physical sample 100%. And they're also asking us that virtual sample need to be exactly the same as a physical sample from developing stage.
It probably heard that what Cameron saying, that's how long it's going to take to make the people Avatar real. How long you're going to take to make the common real. That's all time. And that's all human sources that all about overhead. I'm going to tell you about the truth here. So if you want everything to be digital, well, that be saving is a question mark.
So probably have to think before giving the orders. You some of the product is not really suitable to make it in digital for example. say functional items. Right. They need to be test. So here's some of the little experience that we generate during the over like 15 years. We're using the 3D and partnering with all our clients.
We've break it into three part developing fit and public library. Also continue essay for development. Have to be fast, isn't it? We always ask that the manufacturers to get those things done in a week, but asking them to make everything perfectly and even not sure if that's they are having the audio or not making any physical sample of the new body, a new construction and you expecting them making exactly as the real one, how can that be possible?
So while we doing the developing, can we just make fast enough? We utilize the strengths of 3D, right? Which is you just see the proportion and the styling. Well, say the stitching important is that shadow. Important is a basically important. Every now is the most important things is about the design, isn't it? So can we just make fast enough to get rid of the, the simple account?
That's one of the things that we need to think of because while the customer asking us to make every single sample same as physical sample, that cannot be faster. If you want to fast enough, I have to hire more people, buy more computers and renting more softwares. Eddie on the overhead ends up still talking about the overhead and this is that the tools that developing need to be fast and the fit need to be accurate, of course.
And do you think that 3D, the PC creation, can do fitting of this woman? Is anyone going to give me a reason that somebody is doing the way that What does that mean? But personally and technical designer, I'm a little bit strict to what call fitting the fitting including all the construction details and the movements and every little I mean, the kind of the threat intelligence can really do.
Fitting. No, not until the day the avatar, but do the scratching and tell them this site is just too tight. Right until that point, I don't think 3D can fit so fitting. If you want to be accurate, you still need to be the physical symbol, isn't it? And then everyone knows that for the fabric, how many physical properties you have to test to create a digital fabric?
There's only five. Can they represent all the physical thetas? You can simulate again, you can simulate it, but you cannot replace in a that's a deal. And then we're talking about the continuous block. Right now a lot of the 3D was some me just one time, so everyone has a look at the 3D and then the file was gone.
POW is just so useless. You spend so much money on that, but just put it away without saving it or make it and all the use of it. So continue to use the forked library of the existing asset as one of the topic that we're going to talk later. While we're talking about how to make this faster. And going back to the previous pages, I'm going to talk about how to saving right.
This is all about the 3D perfect, how to save the time, how to save the money. And right now, many factors actually make everything making the samples, making testing the fabric and making the trees. You know, we have to just do the 3D modeling things. Well, that be fast enough or to cut down the time or the actually is increasing the workload.
So that's what we need. We need the meals coming in, testing their fabric because they know their fabric, the best array and the trim factories as well as we need the brands and whoever can talk strongly and push the everyone to get into this ecosystem so this can be digitalized all together. So just quickly wrap a little bit here is that while we talking about the 3D, hopefully this is about speed, tie, saving and definitely, hopefully it's a sustainable way.
And here's the idea that I would like to bring out to everyone is that 3D is not just a tool, it's a hopefully that it's a virtualized language. So we talk about language that means you understand and understand so that we can talk, that we can communicate. But right now what we facing is some of our clients say, I'm clients, I'm just telling you what to do and you have to do.
So they don't know anything about 3D, but they give you the orders telling you to do some of the tough works. So hopefully the 3D can be a language. Something like Excel is sending out this Excel file and the people will take it. They can use it. So that's the 3D. What can we end up with? So that's about as serious part.
And as come to you a little bit interesting part is that when we talk about the essay, so once that essay was done what that can be continue to use right now as a spring out to camera again they're just putting the garments on those amazing models and showing into the commercials are they just be able to place on those amazing people or I can wear that on to so this is one of the ideas they were continuously using this digital asset.
One of them is by using the air. Our comment reality platforms, I think I believe everyone's all aware of the dress x12 cakes and zero ten. They're all combining the physical and digital. So our digital garments, the amazing creations, they can just be matching to the real people and you can dress up. So probably people will think what, does that mean is it any valuable part of that?
We have to do that possibly. Like for example, my whole life never wear the dress like that, but I can ask a dress X, can you just help me transition? So it's lifetime. I don't need to buy that physical garment and put in my closet and just stuck with there forever because I probably just dress at one time.
But I can buy the digital garment online and ask Saks to dress it up for me and I can publish my G. Hey, I got this garment. I wait up and probably is another amazing garment or any more valuable gowns, a special garments that can be all done. So that's what the digital garments can continuously. And for the brands, for the buyers, you're not only selling the physical garments, but you're also selling the digital ones because you take time to do use the physical samples and you have to produce enough numbers to fulfill your your market for how to buy the digital garments.
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You only have to make ones right and you can just apply all that's the deal of using it. And the other way is with me talking about digital. Digital at digital, when we talk about air, is that digital to physical is a digital right and the digital to digital creation. I believe a lot of Kasserine is old plane with the same box and Roblox as anyone.
Like kids love playing the app all the time. So right now the avatars as well, we look at legal person or little like the round shape. So when this market getting big enough, well that be the next Facebook or the next IG so people won't walking on that Well the one day they were thinking that I think the the little avatar didn't look good enough.
They probably are becoming a little bit more like real life avatar like this. So our digital garments, it's got somewhere to go, right? So right now you can selling your garments across the platforms and we just kind of simulating a little bit. That's actually by 3D. Just sorry, how come it always sounds like that? So we're just simulating look like a T talk.
So in the future, probably you just can have the move set and then just dress click on the garments you want and dress up and just have it heat up. Movie all that be possible. I think of it probably just within this two years. That will be just a come true. So all the digital creation, you may it can be sold online as well.
There won't be just one time digital file. And this is one of the project that we are working with. TIME one famous design. And Jen, as you can see, the garment is pretty much adobe HD probably. You cannot even image that garments on me, right? Probably not. So a lot of people, when they look at the come and say, my God, this will be different.
I want to put it on. But there's this one piece, garment limited limitation piece, how can you put it on? So this is AB It'll help the design and creating the digital garment a little bit kitchen look so that everyone can just put it on and play with they move with it. Well that's, that's good enough. But how about let's use 3D to make well say the things you call the real one and you know what it will be look like.
You can create like fur. So once we create this 3D, what can be done next? Let me just routing back a little bit. We'll figure out a few ways to utilize the file and they can be applied to all different area. We made a well collaborate with a few famous electronic companies, the designers. So that's the app that we collaborate with as they were creating the avatar that will be the figure in the future.
Just do some shape yourself a little bit and here's all the real garments. That's a product that can be dressed on on that amazing avatars with the digital same digital to digital and digital to physical with the air can be published. So in this way, all your digital works can be applied, they'll be continuous and can be sellable.
So this is the digital garment that we made. But it can be it can put on the avatar you want. You like and you also you can apply it into the app that with the shape you like. And if you really want that garments on hand, you can just put it into a shopping bag, you can have it.
So there's a physical and digital combination. I think I'm one this a little bit faster, so I almost finish my PowerPoint. So if there's any questions, please just mail up. Okay. So is it really time saving If you make actual embellishment and skin type? Definitely. Definitely. Because a unit or the factory was located in the established factory. So we actually need to submit the fabric piece to oversee and let them do all the works and in coming back to skin and to to have it done.
So if today we kind of have to have a little swatch done like a neighborhood and we can have the little swatch to simulate it as much faster, definitely faster. And you don't need to kind of like go through all the conversations like how many station I want or how digital it is. We can just go through the simulation to make it done.
So how accurate is a 3D simulation of a layered garment garment was lining cutting jacket. This very JP algorithm works. That's the reason why I'm saying it's not going to do the fitting. this one of the case. If today those garments are all made already and you just want to pull them together, of course we can simulate them exactly the same.
But if this is brand new style and you try to make them, you try to use 3D software to make them real or similar them into the real life, it's not going to happen because you don't know how thick that fabric is. You don't know how those fabric will act to each other, and some of the fabrication will stick to each other.
But you won't know until the physical sample made. So the accuracy of the 3D simulations. the question was just click out. So the accuracy of and making the 3D garment. The point is that you need to have the physical one in advance. And while we do insane about developing this just for installing or if for the propulsion, look, if you want them to be look like real, it definitely need a physical sample aside to compare with.
So the next one is how to accurately fit simulation of any stretchable fabric and fabric with a spandex fiber, which in reality there is no algorithm to simulate drape or stretch fabric. I think is I have to invite kind of data to come up to answer the second questions. But for first questions, everyone knows that in the 3D world that woven fabric present more obvious than the neat one, because right now, so far, as we mentioned, the test of five physical properties, including thickness, weight stretch and what is spending.
So the weight and the stretch, the weight and bending actually influence how it draped, but not accurately. And as you know, that the family might change by like not probably not ten grand, but about like 20 to 50 grams. How can computer analyze all the detail? How can you test a so many fabrications?
So well, we are doing right now is we actually establish a family library is just some of the little no house from our company is that only we only test of fabrics over having the differences over 50 gram that's the huge differences so within like if there's only I ten grand differences we won't retest it again because it will have any differences in 3D world and what is coming out is that we establish a big fabric libraries. So is there any new fabrications coming in? But the swatch is not ready yet. We'll do the filtering through our library to select the sub1 as we know that there's a lot of fabrications in different softwares, but it cannot cover. So right now establish a fabric library from brand is kind of the key to make this process a smoother.
I believe that the way to going forward and do you really need to hire 3D specialties specialist that have comprehensive pattern making backgrounds if 3D is being used for visualization instead of fitting well, they don't need to be master making, but they enlist need to know how to put them together. There's ones that when we just starting using 3D and we try to hire AD after new fresh coming in and we found there's one one members that they don't even know the price need to be stitched together how those people can can use 3D in slowing the coming together even this this is only for the visual look, but if they don't know the pattern, some of them don't even know the shoulders that have to be sewn together. They just kind of so the right shoulder to the left, the back shoulder. So how can that be done? And here's one of the one of the thing that I would like to share is that I'm not saying the younger people is more is better than at the computer, but a lot of our senior pet makers have difficulties to turn the 3D around.
And sometimes when they turn it to the back, they just never get it back to the from view. So that won't be happens to be a 3D specialist. So do they need to be really headmaster? No, but they at least need to know to sort it out. And of course, a construction wise, if you don't know how to construct, you probably cannot give an incorrect the stage or the view onto it.
And on the castaway is your experience. What challenge they have do is required to labor and see how do they present. I'm not quite understand this question is that whoever's got here can kind of explain this question a little bit. What's true? Is there anyone bringing out of this question this now here? Yeah. So let me just go to the next one because I'm not quite understand what they trying to emphasize is and some is a brand, some Brett it's a malaysian who is hit man, but the Titan is in effect.
that's amazing questions that that's a really good one because we know that free software provide the stretch map and tension map and they are all relatively numbers I believe you all understand that. So if today we have the original 3D on, for example, together we are making a body map, body mapping, compression, leaking. So when you compare Apple to Apple with the previous fit to current fit, you can obviously tell how those maps translate the colors probably from red to, blue or to green.
You have to compare Apple to Apple, but those numbers are listed in the software. They are all related and the numbers still will be different from those numbers in your test of physical like use a lot of sensors stuck into the between the fabric and body because as we just mentioned before it, fabric right now we're only testing about five of physics.
They cannot present everything. And the avatar as a stiff avatar, as unlike the human body body. So the action and reaction is different from the real one. So usually I'll say usually we don't use tension method, we use a scratch map because represent the fabric stretch ability to present how we Hollywood's abstracted away and reflect onto the body.
So let me see. Okay. So do your customer assumptions. Do your customer expect real 3D outcome of test. But what is is there anyone can explain your question? Well, I yes, some of them. So how do you use this section? Okay, thank you perfectly. And as we just mentioned, right now, 3D or the simulation is going to curve to extremely direction of the developing go extremely simple.
But when we talking about we when we talking about try to replace the salesman sample, we want it to be real as possible. So that's the point that we make it as physical sample because when we doing the salesman samples or placement samples, the order has been booked and we already make the physical sample right down here. We can simulate as is in a similarly from scratch out of nothing is almost impossible.
But if there's something already there and we just try to simulate it, it's easy, much easier. So as you see, yes, they're asking us to do like extremely true to life garments. Yes, we can make it as long as there's a model down here which is a simulated. But while we talking about the previous cutting the to have done lead times then that have to be simple so they go kind of different direction, but you have to utilize it and make 3D do what is good at.
I mean, I'm kind of repeating what Cameron was just mention make the 3D do what is capable of instead of keep on asking them to do something they cannot do. I think that's one of the points. So say yeah, everything. So thank you for joining today.
