Revolutionary zip sampling service Coats Opti Express launches
- 04 May 2015
Coats Group plc, the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, is launching Coats Opti Express, a revolutionary zip sampling service. This new service for the fashion and textiles industries delivers zips via a web-based state of the art sampling system. The new service is being showcased on the Coats stand (hall 5.1, stand B30), at Texprocess, the international fair for the processing of textile and other apparel materials, in Frankfurt, Germany, 4-7 May.
Opti Express provides the fastest and simplest zips sampling service in the market. Currently the lead time for a standard zip sample averages 14 days but Coats Opti Express reduces this to just five days. The lead time for a fully customised zip will be reduced from several weeks to 10 days.
The increased speed of delivery is due to a newly created digital tool which helps customers quickly and easily select the most appropriate zip sample for their needs, specify the shade and length and select a puller. Production of the sample starts as soon as the request is submitted and the digital tool also helps eliminate several time consuming manual interventions in the ordering and production process.
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 easily select the right zip and puller.
Rajiv Sharma, Global CEO, Industrial, Coats Group plc, said: ‘Coats Opti Express is an industry game changer. It makes zip selection simple, quick and easy and significantly reduces sample delivery time.’
Picking the perfect colour match is also made easy using the Coats Colour Capsure 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 within three days and the Coats propriety cast metal prototype, the ProtoPul, ready 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, 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.
To find out more about Coats Opti Express and view the product film go to www.coatsoptiexpress.com
ENDS
For more information contact:
Kristina Blissett, Communications Manager kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887
Notes to Editors
To download a high resolution image of Coats Opti Express go to: www.coats.com/imagelibrary
To find out more about Texprocess go to: http://texprocess.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/willkommen.html
About Coats
With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world's leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, at home in more than 70 countries, employing over 20,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2014 were US$1.7bn.
Our well-known brands and strong relationships with customers and consumers mean our products and services meet current and future needs. Our company-wide understanding of our business partners and consumers, coupled with the deep expertise of our people, builds trust and certainty.
Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company continues leading the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; extending the crafts offer into new markets and online; and applying innovative techniques to develop products in new areas such as tracer threads, aramids and fibre optics.
- 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
- Coats produces enough yarn to knit 70 million scarves a year
- Every three hours Coats makes enough thread to go to the moon and back
- More than 450 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
- In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
- Every week over 10 billion teabags are brewed using Coats’ thread
- Coats produces enough thread to reach around the Equator every ten minutes
- Thousands of surgical operations take place every day using Coats’ thread
- Coats is the second largest and fastest growing global zip manufacturer