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With fabric costs normally more than half the FOB, the need to accurately establish fabric yields is paramount. Costing too high may lose you the business, cost too low you may not profit from the deal.

The typical scenario is that the quote is needed urgently, but you don’t have the time and resources to properly investigate costs with a high degree of confidence. Forced to guess, you also add on a buffer because losing business is one thing but doing bad business is worse.

Shapeshifter’s customised cloud service connects the costing team to the rest of the business, even in multi-country enterprises. It eliminates the need to queue for resources or for specialist skills.

Our Infinity Engine delivers both speed and accuracy whilst removing risk, allowing business to be won quickly and profitably.

Buying either too little or too much fabric is problematic. On one hand you face letting down customers because orders are unfulfilled or delayed. On the other hand, buying too much fabric means your profitability takes a hit. Excess fabric can’t always be re-used and can easily end up increasing the inventory or deadstock costs to an unacceptable level.

Guesstimating occurs because of tight timeframes, with customers typically wanting orders in 60 days or less. This leaves you without the time or resources to explore all the options for all the orders so you can buy only what’s needed. Over-ordering is as much of a burden on the environment and your sustainability goals as it is on your profits.

Working as an integrated part of your ERP, Shapeshifter supports frenzied buying cycles with massive parallel processing in the cloud, calculating all the options for every style in a matter of hours, not weeks.

There are literally thousands of options and combinations to choose from and only a limited time to get the job done in time for the production line switch-over.

There are also preferences and constraints to consider, constraints which may come from the customer, the tech pack, the fabric properties and inconsistencies, machinery being used, and from the subsequent manufacturing processes.

Shapeshifter’s customised approach delivers the best result for any situation. Automatic settings kick in for the bulk of the work whilst users can prioritise and select for special case scenarios when the “best’ result needs to be different.

Traditional on-premise or cloud-based technologies present basic inherent features which are a function of traditional, inefficient linear processes, ie 1) creating a cut-plan, and then 2) making some markers. Even when queues are invisible to the user they are still there, preventing the results from being optimised.

Shapeshifter calculates the best cut-plan and marker combination in a logical, non-linear process, computing all the thousands of possibilities before delivering the results.

There are no queues, visible or otherwise, and an unlimited user capability combined with data pushed from ERP enables technology users to support the Costing, Buying and Cutting processes simultaneously without prioritisation of any.

Shapeshifter is cloud-native, connecting easily to your digital ecosystem with the security of high level encryption technology.

ERP integration, using REST API, ensures software solutions hold automated two-way conversations. For web browsers, Shapeshifter's user interface is configured to provide maximum automation and simplicity.

Cloud architecture makes updating software easier and provides access to massive computing power.

There are no CAPEX or OPEX budgets to consider.

Shapeshifter is a cloud-based SaaS solution delivered through a monthly subscription contract, which means no hefty capital expenditure and you're not locked in forever.

You avoid the costly CAPEX and OPEX of traditional tech solutions and licensing models.

Plus, by paying only a fraction of the subscription fees during the pilot phase, whilst making quantified dollar gains as Shapeshifter creates improvements, the traditional invest-first payback-later model reverses to pay for itself in advance.

Traditional, costing, buying, cutting room and technology teams all need the right spread of skills, knowledge and detailed level abilities for selected disciplines. These skills may not always keep up with the changing landscape of the apparel industry, creating bottlenecks in supply and driving up costs.

While there will always be a need for specialists, many of the tasks can and should be automated to allow the skilled team to use their unique abilities to better impact the process goals.

Shapeshifter automates many of the difficult processes, mitigating the challenges and enabling better, faster ways of working.

Shapeshifter is easy to use. After just a couple of sessions with our 1-hour online training programme your entire team can be Shapeshifter-ready, regardless of their existing skillsets.

Environmental initiatives are driven by customers’ desire to protect fragile ecosystems, especially in the developing countries that make the products.

Each year around 100 billion garments are made world-wide. The ability to use less fabric in every garment would be a truly global win for the end consumer, for the brand and the garment manufacturer, and for the fragile ecosystems in which they operate.

Shapeshifter reduces fabric in each garment by an average of 2% measured against the traditional tech landscape. This 2% equates to a potential of around 3 billion yards less fabric used at source and lower costs for apparel manufacturers, brands and consumers. It also represents a massive win for the ecosystems that support our modern lifestyles.