Marco Duarte, senior director at Lighthouse Apparel, added that Under Armour’s vision for Lighthouse is to improve the business model by reducing lead times and inventories and by leveraging design, materials and manufacturing through optimization of those three components.

 

He added that the company wants to complement these aspects with fashion, materials and engineering skills. And, UA wants to innovate, he said.

 

“We’re approaching it in two steps. One is, in the short term, we’re embarking on sensible automation – automation that makes sense,” Duarte said. “That’s what we have seen in our industry. We have partners who are helping us achieve that. Also, disruptive innovation. What does that mean? You’ve all seen the robotics and the futuristic approach to how we can have a fully automated industry. I think we need to see it as an opportunity to research and look at it closer.”

 

Opportunities for innovation also exist in 3D printing and seamless technologies, he added.

 

“The Lighthouse is a playground to layer all of these foundations,” he said.

 

Dunbar and Duarte then delved deeper into the capabilities of and strategies and vision for the Lighthouse. Dunbar concluded by asking what will the future look like.

 

“We’re laying the foundation to deliver the right product at the right time by using market intelligence aligned with strategy,” she said. “Now we can start to treat manufacturing as one problem. And we’re building the bridge to the future by aligning strategy, line building, design, development, sales, mass customization – ultimately, flipping the model upside down and disrupting the way our industry works.

 

“We’re pushing the boundaries of what it takes to make great product, to innovate the process and to drive local for local,” she added.

Posted November 23, 2016

 

By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)

 

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – During SPESA’s Executive Conference, two speakers from Under Armour talked about the brand’s new UA Lighthouse manufacturing and design leadership center in downtown Baltimore.

 

Jami Dunbar, vice president of Lighthouse Apparel, introduced the presentation thusly:

 

“Many of you today may be thinking, how can I create a mindset of continuous improvement in my company?,” she asked. “How can manufacturing excellence just be a part of my company’s DNA? And how can I start to create an advanced manufacturing engine that will help support domestic manufacturing?

 

“Some of you might be wondering, how do we harness information technology for Industry 4.0?,” she continued. “How can we begin to support in scale a local-for-local manufacturing model now that we know that reshoring is a reality? And how can we gain speed and be quicker to market?”

 

Enter the Lighthouse. The company expects the center to be a catalyst for change in textile and apparel manufacturing and will help lead the reshoring movement, she said.

 

“Under Armour is building the factory of the future,” Dunbar said, “because we believe that by using Lighthouse as an engine, it will allow us to make great product, to innovate the process and drive local for local.”

 

Lighthouse, she said, is the company’s vision for the future of manufacturing. It will revolutionize how product is made, she added.

 

“It’s a place where product designers and manufacturers can come together and collaborate in the same space,” Dunbar said. “And in the Lighthouse, we’re working alongside partner companies to create new technologies, but also leveraging existing ways of working. We’re creating new technologies to make the products on a smaller scale so that we can gain efficiency and quality while bringing product to market faster. The idea is to modernize technology, modernize the footwear and apparel industry.”