Industry Technologies
The word “Bespoke” is defined as “custom tailored or ordered to be a perfect fit.
Bespoke Manufacturing Company (BMC), a Phoenix, Arizona–based apparel and home fashions manufacturer, has selected S&H Systems, Inc. and Zebra Technologies Corporation’s Fetch autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and fixed industrial scanners to improve visibility and productivity.
Zebra’s solution will improve BMC’s workflow visibility from the initial printing, cutting, and sewing of fabric to the final phase of packing and shipping, increasing efficiency and productivity and allowing the manufacturer to scale up to meet growing demand.
Bespoke Manufacturing Company (BMC) President and CEO J. Kirby Best refers to the plant in Phoenix, Arizona, as a “one-off mass customization facility.” BMC’s business model minimizes human contact. Designers create outfits on the iCreate.Fashion website that then packages the design files into a format readable by BMC’s automated printing and digital cutting equipment.
Kirby Best, President & CEO, Bespoke Manufacturing Company
- BMC employees then take the printed and cut clothing and home fashion components — usually seven pieces for a dress — and place them into a barcoded tote. Employees place the appropriate zippers, buttons, etc. into the tote and load it onto an AMR.
- AMRs then deliver totes between as many sewing stations as required and deliver finished products to inspection and packaging stations. As barcode scanners register the totes at each location, the plant’s M3 computer system tracks the positions of every garment in the plant.
- More Space Equals More Product
- With the factory in full operation and 120 sewing stations in use, the facility’s M3 computer system, every seven seconds, calculates where to direct each AMR based on the type of seam an operator sews, the materials loaded into their machine, and their relative skill among other variables.
- Best says that 10 of the factory’s AMRs are usually in motion simultaneously, and the M3 system can at any time adjust any of the AMR’s intended locations, based on how variables change.
- “We can redirect a tote in the middle of the process to help out with the load leveling of the factory,” says Best.
- Thanks to replacing a mechanical conveyor system with the AMR fleet, the plant enjoys a 33% improvement in space efficiency and has much more room for sewing equipment. According to Best, this tripled the production capacity of his previous plant at OnPoint Manufacturing.
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The antiquated conveyor technology that J. Kirby Best replaced with modern robotics. (Photo from Best's previous plant at OnPoint Manufacturing).
“I am convinced, today, I can probably get another 30% increase in the next plant we are building,” Best says.
Zebra’s solution will improve BMC’s workflow visibility from the initial printing and cutting of fabrics to the final phase of packing and shipping, increasing efficiency and productivity and allowing the manufacturer to scale up to meet growing demand. BMC selected Zebra’s end-to-end industrial and robotics automation solution to enable front-line workers to focus on production. Its entire workflow logistics are delegated to Zebra’s Fetch AMRs and fixed industrial scanners which move, trace, and direct workpieces to their destinations.
Zebra’s solution will improve BMC’s workflow visibility from the initial printing and cutting of fabrics to the final phase of packing and shipping, increasing efficiency and productivity and allowing the manufacturer to scale up to meet growing demand. BMC selected Zebra’s end-to-end industrial and robotics automation solution to enable front-line workers to focus on production. Its entire workflow logistics are delegated to Zebra’s Fetch AMRs and fixed industrial scanners which move, trace, and direct workpieces to their destinations.
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Pathfinder FabricPro™ Tension Free Automatic Material Spreader
With Zebra’s unique solution, we are able to realize significant savings in labor time while retaining an ability to instantly scale up to meet seasonal demand surges, and seamlessly modify our production.
I am particularly proud that Zebra’s smart and innovative solution allows us to create and keep manufacturing jobs in the United States, said J. Kirby Best, President & CEO, BMC.
About Bespoke Manufacturing CompanyBMC started with the goal of revolutionizing the harmful impacts of the fashion industry and bringing innovation to the forefront of what it can offer. They have created a way to make on-demand apparel manufacturing sustainable, scalable, and profitable. BMC is a tech-enabled, state-of-the-art print, cut, and sew operation specializing in high-quality apparel and home fashion products. Quality is at the heart of everything they do. They strive to produce the perfect product the first time by streamlining the manufacturing process to be more effective and efficient.
BMC has partnered with iCreate.fashion, a platform that enables real-time 24/7 visibility of launch, manufacturing process, and inventory status. iCreate helps designers and brands build Smart Tech Packs (STPs) that can be used in both traditional and automated manufacturing plants.
Products are cut with speed and accuracy using Gerber Z1, a digital cutting solution providing speed and quality to all products. All BMC products are auto-nested to create the most efficient nesting possible, removing the need to develop markers and ensuring the highest yield potential.
With 125 sewing stations and the finest operators in the world, BMC can produce 4.5 dresses per minute. The team is multi-skilled and adept at using multiple machines and operations. Combined with their selection of the highest quality Juki sewing machines, BMC’s adaptability and precision allow for a diverse range of products of the utmost quality to be produced at any time.www.youtube.com/channel/UCjuY9HYScRug9TeHnNBtC6g
About Zebra Technologies CorporationZebra Technologies Corporation is a provider of solutions for data capture, fulfillment execution, and visibility, as well as mobile robotics. Zebra’s Fetch AMRs and fixed industrial scanners complement each other to achieve additional synergies and productivity gains. Zebra’s FS20 and FS40 fixed industrial scanners provide visibility into the movement of each piece in production, directing Fetch robots to advance them throughout the workflow from one destination to the next, all the way to the packing and shipping stage for finished products. Zebra’s Fetch AMRs are fully integrated into the production process, freeing BMC’s human workers to concentrate on the most important professional tasks, in a controlled, safe, and collaborative manner.
About S&G SystemsS&H Systems is a registered reseller and a member of the Mobile Robotics Specialization within Zebra’s PartnerConnect program that is designed and integrated into the industrial and robotics automation solution, which BMC anticipates expanding across its existing and planned manufacturing sites to meet seasonal production surges and growing demand.