05/05/1994

Researchers Looking for New Options for Small Apparel Firms

AUBURN, Ala. - Alabama is home to many small textile and apparel manufacturers. While these businesses are not always high-tech, they can benefit from some high-tech help. Auburn University consumer affairs researchers are providing that help in a variety of ways.

"There is a textile or apparel company in every county in Alabama," said Carol Warfield, head of Auburn University's Department of Consumer Affairs. "If we can help them do well, it can benefit all of Alabama by keeping jobs in the state and increasing our tax base."

Warfield noted that many of these businesses are small companies that need specialized assistance to keep up with technology and to keep up in the market. Two studies underway through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) at Auburn are meeting those needs.

"The Department focuses on the textile, apparel and retail industry from the design concept on through to the consumer," said Warfield. "We have been trying for a number of years to find ways to facilitate the different parts of the industry to bring business into Alabama."

In 1986, the department pioneered a "sourcing fair" that began linking Alabama products to retailers across the nation and world. This sourcing fair highlights Alabama apparel producers' capabilities to provide apparel for retailers who typically had looked overseas for much of their production. The idea caught on and is now part of the annual Bobbin Show held in Atlanta. It also has led to new sourcing ideas.

"We are moving to a situation where we have to do more niche marketing to meet the desires of consumers," explained Lenda Jo Anderson, an associate professor of consumer affairs who co-chaired the initial sourcing fair and is now heading an electronic data base sourcing project.

"NAFTA and other international trade agreements are making that even more necessary," continued Anderson. "Today, consumers' tastes change rapidly and they want the market to react quickly to meet their changing tastes."

Responding to this increased and rapidly changing demand means that retailers must have fast, easy access to sources of these goods. The data base project is helping provide that access.

Anderson said there are some 26,000 textile and apparel manufacturers in the United States, most of which are located in the Southeast. If a retailer needs an item, going through all 26,000 sources to find out which one can best meet their needs would be time consuming. Using the data base, they can identify a few good contacts and begin negotiations much more quickly and easily. This not only provides a service to retailers, it also helps ensure a market for manufacturers.

"The data base includes information about all of Alabama's textile and apparel producers, the type of information that product developers would use if they were trying to find sources for a new product," explained Anderson.

The data base is currently being used for Alabama manufacturers and is being introduced to product developers in major retail firms, such as Sears and J.C. Penney's.

"The next step is to do a regional and then a national roll-out of the data base," said Anderson. The project was funded in part by the National Textile Center, which is helping conduct the roll-out in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Another AAES project underway through the school is being conducted by Lisa Shanley, associate professor of consumer affairs, who has been designing user-friendly computer programs for small apparel manufacturers.

"The majority of textile and apparel firms in Alabama are small firms," said Shanley. "Fewer than 100 have more than 50 employees. It's difficult for these people to afford sophisticated, expensive computerized equipment that would increase accuracy and help them to respond more quickly to market changes."

Her first step toward meeting these needs was to determine if these small manufacturers were interested in adopting new technology. She found that, while they were interested in upgrading, many were intimidated by the high degree of technical training needed to run such equipment.

So Shanley set out to develop more user-friendly options that took less technical training to operate. She has developed a personal computer-based generic system for cutting and marking patterns. This system will allow manufacturers to use computer-aided design technology with a minimal investment in time, money and training.

The programs allow an operator to punch in simple codes and measurements on basic patterns to customize the patterns' styles and sizes quite easily.

Shanley's programs are being pilot tested in Auburn University classes and some of these programs will be available to industry by this summer. They also may be useful for home sewers and sewing shops.

-30-

News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.ed

05/05/94