Contents

Introduction
Effectively managing your excess thread stocks
Key features of Coats Colour StockMatch
The Coats Colour Capsure device
Customer stock fandeck
Overall process – loading your excess thread
The process to use up your excess thread stocks
Requirements and tips
Implementation
Summary

Introduction

Coats has launched a new proprietary tool to effectively manage excess thread stocks, keep track of quantities in your warehouse and offer a solution for fast thread sampling.

Analysis carried out by Coats shows that typically 15% excess thread is ordered as standard, to take into account built in safety factors and waste. A factory with 500 sewing machines can typically have 40,000 to 60,000 excess thread cones in its warehouse.

Excess thread is moved to the warehouse where it accumulates and is usually only eliminated by selling to dealers or traders at heavily discounted prices.

Currently thread is ordered against each finished goods production run, taking into account style, size and colour. As thread has to match fabric, it is difficult to check thread stocks in the warehouse before making new orders. Therefore often an order is placed when a close enough thread match could already easily exist in the warehouse. This causes waste, additional costs and potentially delays, especially for sampling production.

Effectively managing your excess thread stocks

Coats is pleased to provide a solution to the challenge of excess stock by delivering a convenient and accurate method of finding the nearest thread match in the excess thread warehouse. If stock exists, you can quickly and easily locate it, as opposed to ordering more thread you do not need.

Key features of Coats Colour StockMatch

• Your own electronic shade card made up of the excess thread stocks in your warehouse
• An electronic colour matching device (the Capsure)

Your stocks are loaded into the device and the Capsure finds the nearest match to the fabric and highlights the quantity available in the warehouse.

The Coats Colour Capsure device

If you have a Colour Capsure device, you get the below:

• Different shade cards
• Your thread warehouse stocks
• Coats warehouse stocks
• Coats standard Shade Card
• Good colour matching
• A guide to the closest colour selection

Customer stock fandeck

When you match fabric to the nearest shade in your warehouse, the Colour Capsure device indicates:

• The nearest colour
• The level of confidence in the colour match
• The quantity of stocks in your warehouse
• • The brand ticket you had selected

Overall process – loading your excess thread

1. Product data mapping

We expect there is a pattern in your product code; the pattern can be populated in our application to build the rules to map between your product and Coats product codes. A Coats representative will work with you to create this mapping rule. Once done, you will send your excess stocks in your product code and we will map, prior to upload, to your device.

2. Providing the file

You just need to send the excess stock in a spreadsheet in the format below:

• Your product code
• Quantity

Please note this application only works for Coats products.

3. Uploading and synchronising your latest thread stock position to the Capsure device

• Coats will inform you once the fandeck is created and uploaded
• You will need to plug the Capsure into your computer. While connected to the Internet, it will automatically synchronise the updated stock fandecks to your own Capsure device(s)
• Then load the software, given to you on a CD, onto your computer
• Use the USB cable given

The process to use your excess thread stocks

Excess stock process diagramOnce your stocks are loaded, your Capsure device is ready to be used for thread requirements; for bulk or for sampling.

The process is simple. When you have a fabric for which you need thread, you will first select your warehouse stock fandeck in the Capsure.

You then take a reading of the fabric. The Capsure will find the nearest matching colour in your warehouse and indicate how much stock you have and the quality of the match. Please see later in the bulletin for further details. If the accuracy indication is strong, you can then use this colour match as opposed to ordering afresh.

If the nearest colour in the warehouse is not acccurate enough, you can change the ‘fandeck’ in the Capsure device to the Coats Standard Colour Card. This will give the nearest colour match in our standard offer which you are able to order from Coats.

Requirements and tips

Fandeck requirement analysis

We need to determine how many fandecks are required for you based on the products you are purchasing from Coats. Up to five fandecks can be stored on the Capsure device.

You will need to provide details of your excess thread stock. With the first file:

• We will establish the product mapping with you
• Agree the individual fandecks (shade cards) to create
• • This is a one off exercise; you then just sent us a file with your latest position on the excess stocks

Since we include the stock position, we suggest updating this process every two weeks to get the data accurately.

Capsure – Match quality indication

After a match, the instrument displays 1, 2 or 3 coloured bars in the title row of the display. The bars indicate the quality of the thread match.

• One red bar indicates an okay match
• Two yellow bars indicate a better match
• Three green bars indicate the best match
• No colour bars would indicate that no close match was found

The bars are for informational purposes only. The green bars are the best possible match, where as one red or two yellow bars informs you that the Capsure device made a suitable match. The fewer colour bars on the Capsure device, the more likely colour differences may be noticed.

Implementation

A Coats representative will help you with all steps of the implementation, and give your team training to effectively use the Colour Capsure device with your stocks loaded.

Summary

Please contact your local Sales Office to find out more, or alternatively request this new tool online.