071217_SEAMS 50th Anniv. Conf. Review

Posted July 12, 2017

By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – After a day of optional activities that included a plant tour, SEAMS, the National Association for the Sewn Products and Textile Industries, marked a milestone with a jam-packed, single-day business session at its 50th Anniversary Spring Networking Conference here recently.

To kick off the meeting, HomTex, Inc. President Jeremy Wootten, SEAMS president, announced that Will Duncan and Associates (WDA) will assume daily management and operations of the not-for-profit organization. The selection of Duncan, founder and CEO of WDA, ensures a “made in America” vision and growth agenda to better support and empower the textile/apparel manufacturers and their suppliers, Wootten said.

Sharon Graubard, founder & creative director at MintModa, a new trend consultancy and subscription website that provides direction for design-related industries, keynoted the session. In introducing her presentation, “SEWN IN THE USA: Making Meaningful Products for a New Era,” she noted that today's connected consumer seeks more than a simple transaction for generic goods.

“It’s just such a moment right now to be producing in the U.S.,” Graubard said. “Customers, now more than ever, read labels. They care where it’s made. What are the nutrients? And there’s also an interest in the maker.”

Emotional resonance, sensory and aesthetic appeal, authenticity, a sense of connection, shared values and more are drivers that make clothing, objects and brands meaningful and desirable, she said. Among new consumer values, she added, are authenticity, responsibility, connecting with a story, innovation and uniqueness and a casual mindset.

Though the younger set is leading the charge, “Millennialization” does not represent an age, per se, she contended. “We’re all behaving in this way,” she said. “These are new values for a new generation. We all want to know who made the clothes, who touched them.”

Among conscious consumers, trust is the new currency, or the new economy, Graubard added, and transparency is the new “green.” They believe in fair trade, employees’ well being, living wages, empowerment, gender equality, sustainable practices, etc.

As such, telling your story as a company adds value, she said.

“Fabric, for example, is the closest thing to people’s skin, so it’s very meaningful,” she said. “So how do we tell that story? Storytelling is different than corporate speak. It captivates. It’s conversational – you don’t have to use jargon. Let customers see themselves through the mirror. It’s a narrative. When you tell your story, it doesn’t have to be about the product – it can be about the effect of the product. Give your audience an inside look at what you do.”

Graubard provided numerous examples of companies that “get it” and as a result are succeeding in today’s retail and experiential environment, she said.

“My message to you is connect with each other, connect with your product and be the story you want to tell,” she said.

Changing the culture starts with the language

William “Bill” D’Arienzo, Ph.D., founder & CEO of WDA Brand Marketing, presented “The Supply Chain Revolution: What the Future Holds for SEAMS Members.”

“We need a change in organization and we need a change in culture,” he said in his introduction. “That is, we need a change in the language. We can’t even use the word ‘factory’ anymore because to use that word conjures up the word ‘grimy.’ But that’s not the case anymore. If it’s not a factory, what is it? It’s a digital production system.”

So as you change the language, you begin to change the perception of value and the opportunities and you encourage dynamic changes, he added.

“The language is simply a carryover when we were a manufacturing culture,” D’Arienzo said. “We are no longer a manufacturing culture. We’re a digital culture. And a digital culture means that the boundaries of the past no longer apply. So this is going to take you as leaders to begin to transform the way you communicate internally and externally to the marketplace.”

Companies also should rethink the word “competition,” he added. “You have to begin to think of yourselves as collaborators. You have to begin to think about shared solutions. Everybody knows everyone’s capabilities – there are no secrets anymore. That has to change. The differential will come not from what is known, but in the effectiveness of your execution.

He continued: “For example, spinners and weavers and finishers have to lock hands and say, ‘this is who we are as a service provider.’ With that, you get a concentrated version of your abilities, you get efficiencies, you get economies of scale and you get the fact that a rising tide lifts all ships. You can’t be afraid anymore.”

Competitors become collaborators because they have no choice, he pointed out.

“We have developed in Europe a supply chain, if you will – and that word also is antiquated, because a chain is rigid. ‘Systems thinking’ will replace ‘supply chain.’ That’s a whole change that the digital world has brought,” D’Arienzo said. “It’s the old thinking. It’s like ‘factory.’ We have to begin thinking that we are in the business of supply systems. This is a game of values.”

In the grand scheme of things in a changing world, a company’s brand should be central to its business vision, he said.

“You have to have a brand because that’s the only thing that can’t be knocked off and copied,” he said. “That’s your only real differential in terms of positioning yourself, imaging yourself in your marketplace. And a brand is not a logo, a brand is not a name. A brand is a way of doing things that is uniquely your own, that you create a story or a narrative around that is so compelling and so emotionally riveting that people want to do business with you. People do business with brands that mirror their own souls and hearts.”

With those themes, he delved into his presentation, which focused on trends and a fashion world full of challenges and uncertainties that demand radical change. New technologies are entering the industry with new business models, he said, and established players are often held hostage to their own inertial ways. And overcoming this passivity, he noted, starts when C-level leadership begins to “think the unthinkable.” The first step is to think “strategic supply systems” instead of “supply chains,” he said.

“You can’t think of things in silos because in the global world, what happens abroad happens at home – and vice versa,” he said.

Attracting and retaining talent

Milliken Vice President of Human Resources Dan Garrison shares his experiences with “Attracting and Retaining Talent.” He discussed direct hiring, staffing agencies and other innovative HR recruiting practices; as well as employee onboarding, training, engagement and company culture.

Related to young talent, he noted that 86 million Millennials will be in the workforce by 2020, representing 40 percent of the total working population. Of that generation, 64 percent say it’s a priority to make the world a better place, and 72 percent would like to be their own boss some day, he noted. Also, 88 percent prefer a collaborative work culture rather than a competitive one, and employers should adjust their environment accordingly in order to hire and retain these employees.

And for Millennials, it’s no longer about “moving up the corporate ladder,” Garrison said. They expect to have fun at work, knowing they’ll spend the majority of their time there. They applaud recognition and appreciation, i.e. small rewards, titles and non-monetary rewards. And they value time off and flexibility and strong communication, he added.

He went on to explain some of the methods Milliken uses to attract new talent and to retain good employees, as well as metrics around what has worked – and not worked – at Milliken.