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Coats acquires Fast React Systems

Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer has acquired Fast React Systems, a UK based company which provides software solutions and expertise to improve the operational efficiency of manufacturers, sourcing companies and retailers in the apparel and footwear industries. Fast React Systems becomes part of Coats Global Services (CGS).

Fast React Systems has 76 employees spread across six countries. It is based in Derby, UK where half of its employees are based. In addition it has employees in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong.

Fast React Systems has three core products:

·         Evolve is a visual and flexible, ‘drag and drop’ planning tool that allows fast and accurate scheduling of manufacturing lines, machines, and supporting processes.  The Evolve solution brings together the essential elements of capacity, critical path and materials into a single solution and provides a vital management tool as much as a planning tool.

·         Vision is an extended PLM solution, designed to manage all key processes for the design, development and purchasing and tracking stages of the apparel supply chain.

·         Align is a visual planning and management tool for co-ordinating textile production, ie, a capacity planning and modelling software solution that allows textile mills to match demand against available capacity, manage their commitments and improve the order confirmation process, work-in-progress and inventory levels.

Paul Forman, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: ‘This is an excellent fit with Coats Global Services.  We are seeing a growth in demand from our customers for value added services in operational efficiency so there is a strong synergy between Fast React Systems’ products and the CGS offering.  We share a footprint of both existing and target customers and together, we can provide an even wider and more attractive product portfolio.’

Andrew Brown, Group Managing Director, Fast React Systems, said: ‘This is a huge opportunity for our products, customers and employees.  The combination of our technical expertise with the global reach and also the customer and brand relationships of Coats marks the start of an exciting new phase in our development. ’

Coats Global Services was launched in 2013 in response to customer demand.  It provides the sewn product industries with expert insights, technical guidance and practical solutions to realise productivity improvements across the supply chain.

The acquisition of Fast React Systems follows the acquisition by Coats of GSD Corporate Ltd in May 2015, and enables Coats Global Services to offer an even wider range of productivity improvement tools.  GSD Corporate Ltd is a UK based company supplying expert management solutions that analyse time, cost and production capability in the sewn products sector with the focus on maximising productivity and controlling costs.

GSD and Fast React Systems, together provide two of the most established and fundamental building blocks for improving productivity and operational efficiency in a fashion manufacturing business.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Kristina Blissett, Head of Communicationskristina.blissett@coats.com

T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887

Notes to Editors

About Coats

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in some 60 countries, Coats employs 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn.

Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company leads the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; applying innovative techniques to develop high technology Performance Materials threads and yarns in areas such as automotive, composites and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online.

Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE 250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange

  • Each year we make enough thread to go into 8 billion pairs of jeans – that’s one for every person on the planet
  • Every month Coats produces enough thread to stretch all the way to the sun
  • More than 450 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
  • More than 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ Performance Materials thread every year
  • In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
  • Our Red Heart knitting and crochet yarn brand has been named ‘America’s Most Recommended’ by the Women’s Choice Award for three years running
  • Our flame retardant Performance Materials threads can withstand temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius
  • Coats is the second largest supplier of zips to global brands

About Fast React Systems

Fast React Systems is a global provider of software solutions, specifically for the fashion industry, from specialist planning and tracking solutions to wider business applications.  With extensive operational experience in textiles, apparel, footwear and garments, it has developed systems that meet the exact needs of the industry.  Global fashion brands, high street retailers and prominent worldwide manufacturers all use Fast React Systems’ products to improve visibility, efficiency, coordination and control.  Headquartered in the UK, and with a local presence in several Asian, European and African markets, Fast React Systems’ software is now used in more than 40 countries across the world.  Revenues in 2015 were £4 million.

For more details visit www.fastreact.com.