On the 24th November, Fashion-Enter’s Director, Caroline Ash, gave a CPPD factory tour and seminar for a group of employees from the British high street retailer – M&S.
Caroline said: “We had designers, buyer’s assistant, garment techs and fabric techs in from M&S for the factory tour and seminar. They were very enthusiastic asking lot of questions. They are all fairly new starters but already had very good knowledge so we had lots of interesting discussions.”
Caroline introduced the group to the factory floor and was able to show, as well as speak about, each key stage of garment production. She was keen to pass on relevant information applicable to their own job roles and informed the group on what can go wrong and how retailers and suppliers can work together to ensure a smooth and efficient manufacturing run.
Feedback from the M&S team included:
“I have learnt about a lot of processes in person instead of looking at a sheet. Really informative.”
“I learnt in depth steps required to follow compliance. Subcontracting and cabbage! It was very engaging and insightful.”
“I’ve learnt about: sustainable printing, construction of the garment process, fabrics, pattern cutting and digital pattern cutting. Really enjoyed it, very informative!
“Really insightful. I really enjoyed the factory tour. The tutor was really informative especially with the 3D avatar fit model.”
“I found out about costings in production and how this affects the factory. Cost efficient steps, Optitex, how to better liaise with pattern cutters, suppliers! Overall super informative.”
“I learnt about Optitex information – uses I didn’t know it had. Behind the scenes of a factory. Insight into ethical / sustainable manufacturing.”
“It was good to be able to compare two different types of production between high street and high end. Talk before and after the factory visit was very informative.”