Jonas Larsson

The Knit on Demand supply chain

The knit on demand supply chain As customers’ tastes become more differentiated, so must companies’ offerings evolve. The demand for variety may soon become unmanageable, and several companies are addressing this trend by adopting a system of mass customization. One project, Knit on Demand, has been conducted by the Swedish School of Textiles in close collaboration with a knitting company and a retailer of tailored fashion in Stockholm. Production and sales of customized products pose logistical challenges for the companies involved, including the one-piece flow through almost the entire supply chain and the demand for short lead times in an otherwise slow environment, adding to the cost of manufacturing mass customized garments. Customization has logistical benefits such as minimised inventory; hence, high inventory turnover and the possibility of fast response to meet customer demand. The Knit on Demand concept can be considered as leagile because it comprises both lean and agile components. It is lean in the manufacturing stage upstream and agile downstream to better respond to customer demand on the market.

Customer Perspective on Mass-customized Knitwear

Abstract Knit on Demand is a research project at the Swedish School of Textiles in collaboration with the knitwear producer Ivanhoe AB and the fashion retailer SOMconcept. The background to the project is the unpredictable fashion market where garments are often produced on a forecast and not on actual demand. The essence of Knit on Demand is to let the customers themselves design the garments. Sales started in SOMconcepts store in PUB Huset, Stockholm, in September 2009 and ended in December 2010. The aim of this article is to find out what factors are crucial in the customers experience of buying a mass-customized garment. By interviewing customers about the customization process, analyzing customer orders, and observing the customization process conclusions can be drawn.

Knit on demand - development and simulation of a production and shop model for customised knitted garments

Development of computer technology and the Internet has made mass customisation of products more common in fashion design of today. Development in production of knitted garments has made it possible to make garments ready made, directly in the knitting machine. The objective of this article is to present a design, production and shop model for the “Knit on Demand” concept and to show how the complete garment knitting technology could be used for customised products. A business model with production equipment located in store is presented. Customers are involved in the design process and garments are customised to fulfil actual demand. A lead time simulation of design and production processes in the shop concept is presented. Simulation in the software tool AutoMod™ shows that the customer could have a self-designed garment in two to five hours.