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Unlike Saitex’s other denim factories in Vietnam and Los Angeles, which churn out millions of pairs of jeans each year, the culture new CEO Sanjeev Bahl wants to build is entirely virtual.
The factory The Los Angeles facility, which opens in 2021, will be a digital replica of the denim manufacturer, and with it, Cytex will be able to map the facility’s workflow in real time.
“It informs you how things are done, how things are done, but also [improve] Front end process management,” Bahl said.
They have started designing the factory for digitization and expect the twins to be finished in four months. After that, another six months, it should be ready to live.
That’s just one chapter in the culture plan. Phase two involves digitizing the Cytex mill and the associated cotton farm. Over time, the supply chain can create a full digital twin, and that’s when the model becomes most powerful. Whenever real-time data comes in, Saitex can use AI to optimize its operations, refine its processes, reduce costs and increase speed. When there’s a disruption like a factory lag or a port shutdown, the AI quickly works out the best option.
It’s an interesting proposition for any company that’s been in turmoil for the past few years, at least for now, although no one in fashion has come to fruition.
Several service providers are addressing different parts of the problem. Noodle.ai is working on AI for supply chain, for example, big tech players like Google, Microsoft and Amazon are providing cloud infrastructure for digital models.
“The question is, is there one provider that will give you the whole thing? I don’t think there is,” said Andrew Hogensen, logistics expert and managing director of Infosys Consulting. “I think what you’re going to get in two or three years is probably some mature partnerships that work together, are implemented together, and are a viable solution to this.”
Hogensen said at least one major fashion brand is making significant progress in implementing such a system, although the company has not yet disclosed the information publicly, and declined to share its name.
Any company can afford more visibility into its supply chain. Typically, a brand goes to a manufacturer as a cut-and-sew factory and they agree on a delivery date. If the factory doesn’t complete the order on time, the brand won’t know until they’re notified, which can be just a week or less before the expiration date. But with a complete view of the supply chain, he can spot warning signs and even go back in time to determine when the supplier should start working to complete the order by the deadline. In theory, it would look upstream and calculate when the suppliers of the raw materials needed to ship to the cut-and-sew factory.
As brands become more confident in their operations, they can reduce their inventory on hand by reducing safety stocks, Hogensen said. Fix disruptions quickly and give colleagues more information on when to expect merchandise or let them know early if there is a delay.
“It’s a significant game changer,” Hogensen said.
Digital twins are not an entirely new concept. Many accounts trace the origins of the idea to NASA’s Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970. After the vehicle’s oxygen tank exploded in space, NASA engineers created a replica of the craft and used the information they obtained to map the situation, devise a solution, and bring the crew home safely. Experience simulating complex systems with computers is a prerequisite.
Other industries are also testing the idea. BMW, for example, has partnered with Nvidia to digitize its plant in Debrecen, Hungary.
But while using digital twins to manage fashion’s most complex system – the supply chain – is an intriguing idea, implementing the idea is not easy. For it to work, companies need to upload it to their suppliers, which means creating digital copies of their jobs and bringing them into a single data platform. That’s a huge amount of work, and suppliers may not want brands to track their results.
The situation is complicated by the fact that suppliers often do not produce for just one brand. If another brand – or several other brands – wants to implement the system, the supplier may have multiple platforms that require its customers to learn and use. Brands also require factories to not only cut and sew their garments on the system, but also those who produce the raw materials they use.
By making the system work for Cytex, Bahl may have the benefit of being a manufacturer rather than a fashion brand with its own factories and mills.
His vision extends beyond feeding all factory operations into a digital platform. He envisions creating a full 3D replica of the factory that the user can visit online, and is considering ways to rent out the digital replica itself for virtual events.
Culture acknowledges that there will be barriers, including cost, expertise and time. But he believes that once you’ve digitized the LA factory, you can easily digitize the others by repeating and making adjustments rather than starting from scratch.
If Cytex or any other company can do it, it will be a whole new virtual world for supply chains.
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