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| New showroom in HK showcases apparel made on new Shima Seiki knitting technology |
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| New showroom in HK showcases apparel made on new Shima Seiki knitting technology |
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| New showroom in HK showcases apparel made on new Shima Seiki knitting technology |
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Flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki opened a new showroom in Hong Kong early this month (October), manifesting a range of seamless apparel and accessory designs for manufacturers, buyers and designers. At the grand opening, Mitsuhiro Shima, Managing Director of the Shima Seiki group, and Ikuto Umeda, Chief Executive Officer of Shima Seiki Win Win Ltd, told AdsaleATA.com the latest market updates and corporate development of the group, especially in the Greater China region.
ATA: AdsaleATA.com
ATA: There are a number of flat knitting and WholeGarment machines in this new showroom. Can you tell us a bit more about them?
Mr Umeda: With the establishment of the new showroom, Shima Seiki gets closer to the clients and directly reach them to offer the most suitable and advanced machinery for their production.
The WholeGarment machines developed by Shima Seiki are demonstrated at this new showroom, as well as an extensive range of styled and fashionable seamless apparel made on them. The WholeGarment machines are expected to further penetrate into the China market as more WholeGarment apparel is taken into the market.
Aside from the machinery, Shima Seiki also provides innovative apparel design systems, and the latest ones are SDS-ONE (RD2) and SDS-ONE APEX.
Ikuto Umeda (left) and Mitsuhiro Shima |
The flat knitting machinery industry developed swiftly in 2007-08 until the outbreak of the global financial crunch, and the industry was impacted as major exports markets of the US, the EU and Japan turned less dynamic after the crunch. China will be a key region in future.
ATA: Talking about China market for Shima Seiki, how do you see its further development?
Mr Umeda: There are challenges in the Chinese knitting industry, like currency appreciation of renminbi, rising labour costs, and the introduction of the Labour Law. The use of high-end machinery in the textile manufacturing is thus more attractive for textile manufacturers to upgrade themselves and improve competitiveness.
We have received orders until early 2010 and continue our market development with both WholeGarment machines and the new MACH2 machines.
A new showroom was also opened on October 19 in Dongguan, Guangdong province in the near future to provide mainly training to the machinery users. The latest MACH2 machines will be exhibited where users can directly explore its new functions and features, and their feedback can be reverted to the Shima Seiki headquarters.
ATA: I understand that made-to-order wholeGarment apparel is available in Japan this and next month, and later in Shanghai this December (Further report is at here). Can you tell us more about Shima Seiki’s new Ordermade business model?
Mr Shima: The fashion business faces four hurdles in the areas of design, production and technology, cost, and consumer preference. To cope with these hurdles, our answer is the Ordermade model that balances the four considerations.
We can now manufacture a piece of unique knitwear for a particular client fitting his/her individual demands.
At the heart of the made-to-order concept is the company’s SDS-ONE (RD2) and SDS-ONE APEX apparel design software systems. The software features an extensive database of patterns and designs as well as pre-programmed templates for size-grading, including irregular body sizes and shapes. It also provides super-realistic knit simulations and 3D virtual sampling functions, allowing accurate visual confirmation of the customer's selection. This enormously saves the cost and time of sampling by having simulations to examine the effects of a given design. It is also an eco-friendly apparel design process.
ATA: Who are expected to be frequent users of this showroom? What kinds of assistance can they obtain here?
Mr Umeda: Apart from providing after-sales services, the showroom also serves as a platform to facilitate interaction among users, designers and buyers by offering them training and technical support with the exhibiting machinery. They can also gain inspirations from real garment samples shown at the room and super-realistic virtual simulations easily made by the SDS-ONE apparel design software systems.
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