Uses Freeborders' FAST site to make latest innovation available to fabric buyers, apparel designers
San Francisco, CA — May 25, 2005 — Fabric buyers, apparel designers and brand houses throughout the world now can access and request fabric samples made with DuPont new Sorona fiber using the online fabric catalog FAST.
Fiber manufacturer Invista and software maker Freeborders launched FAST, available at www.fastextile.com, last year as a Web-based service for sourcing fabrics. The site is intended to serve as a neutral platform open to any fiber maker, mill, manufacturer and retailer in the world.
In making the Sorona announcement, DuPont said that by FAST, brands and retailers have the opportunity to cut lead times and speed development because they will be able to search, sample and cost all Sorona-based fabrics online, 24-hours-a-day. Now, instead of attending traditional trade shows and mill visits, they can register online at FAST and search mill databases by fiber brand, fabric type, construction, geography and other parameters, requesting swatches of fabric made with Sorona around-the-clock directly from mills and at no cost.
"FAST provides the easiest way to source and sample the growing inventory of fabrics made with Sorona," said Dawson Winch, global product and marketing manager with DuPont Sorona business. "The FAST Web-based catalog creates a strong global textile and apparel market for Sorona and is breakthrough marketing for this category, providing us with greater speed-to-market."
The Sorona business team has implemented the new FAST marketing option for more than 20 DuPont Sorona partner mills that manufacture and market fabrics made with Sorona. Many of the Sorona licensees and their mill customers now featured on FAST are located in the Asia Pacific region.
"FAST provides the most effective, measurable return on marketing for fiber, dye and fabric producers, enabling them to gain a response rate of 11 percent from leads generated as opposed to the 3-4 percent response rate of traditional marketing efforts," asserted Mike Keating, Freeborders partner and FAST general manager. "Buyers and designers at key apparel brands expedite sourcing using FAST because for the first time they're able to communicate in real-time with mills that manufacture fabrics such as those made with Sorona. This marks a significant improvement for the entire apparel industry supply chain."
Freeborders is a provider of technology solutions and outsourcing from China. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company provides domain expertise to U.S. and European companies in retail/consumer goods, financial services and software/technology.
Additional Articles of Interest
For a look at how Newmont Mining is connecting to its supply base through e-marketplace Quadrem to form a global supply network, see the article "Making Global Supply Chains Work" in the August/September 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
San Francisco, CA — May 25, 2005 — Fabric buyers, apparel designers and brand houses throughout the world now can access and request fabric samples made with DuPont new Sorona fiber using the online fabric catalog FAST.
Fiber manufacturer Invista and software maker Freeborders launched FAST, available at www.fastextile.com, last year as a Web-based service for sourcing fabrics. The site is intended to serve as a neutral platform open to any fiber maker, mill, manufacturer and retailer in the world.
In making the Sorona announcement, DuPont said that by FAST, brands and retailers have the opportunity to cut lead times and speed development because they will be able to search, sample and cost all Sorona-based fabrics online, 24-hours-a-day. Now, instead of attending traditional trade shows and mill visits, they can register online at FAST and search mill databases by fiber brand, fabric type, construction, geography and other parameters, requesting swatches of fabric made with Sorona around-the-clock directly from mills and at no cost.
"FAST provides the easiest way to source and sample the growing inventory of fabrics made with Sorona," said Dawson Winch, global product and marketing manager with DuPont Sorona business. "The FAST Web-based catalog creates a strong global textile and apparel market for Sorona and is breakthrough marketing for this category, providing us with greater speed-to-market."
The Sorona business team has implemented the new FAST marketing option for more than 20 DuPont Sorona partner mills that manufacture and market fabrics made with Sorona. Many of the Sorona licensees and their mill customers now featured on FAST are located in the Asia Pacific region.
"FAST provides the most effective, measurable return on marketing for fiber, dye and fabric producers, enabling them to gain a response rate of 11 percent from leads generated as opposed to the 3-4 percent response rate of traditional marketing efforts," asserted Mike Keating, Freeborders partner and FAST general manager. "Buyers and designers at key apparel brands expedite sourcing using FAST because for the first time they're able to communicate in real-time with mills that manufacture fabrics such as those made with Sorona. This marks a significant improvement for the entire apparel industry supply chain."
Freeborders is a provider of technology solutions and outsourcing from China. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company provides domain expertise to U.S. and European companies in retail/consumer goods, financial services and software/technology.
Additional Articles of Interest
For a look at how Newmont Mining is connecting to its supply base through e-marketplace Quadrem to form a global supply network, see the article "Making Global Supply Chains Work" in the August/September 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
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