Find out what happens when textiles meet technology
Avery Dennison teamed up with fashion innovators, BYBORRE, to create a digitally connected scarf. Harnessing Avery Dennison’s digital labels and atma.io connected product cloud, the scarf revealed opportunities in supply chain visibility, consumer engagement and circularity.
Both sides of the partnership brought their own expertise to the table. BYBORRE, an innovative knit lab from the Netherlands, applies technology and craftsmanship to textile design and production. From our side, Avery Dennison Digital Solutions offers an end-to-end system of digital triggers, cloud data management and applications.
Supply Chain Visibility
The scarf itself was designed and knitted by BYBORRE as part of a joint traceability workshop hosted by Avery Dennison at the Window of Textile Opportunities™. During production, the garments were embedded with Avery Dennison Digital Care Labels featuring unique QR codes. The serialized digital labels linked to data held on the atma.io cloud platform via an Avery Dennison app.
Essentially, this technology allows for access to a trove of relevant information, simply by holding a smartphone camera over the product label. Amongst other things, this information includes:
Yarn origin, blend and color
Certifications such as the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
Supply chain journeys, from material manufacture to sampling and production
CO2 emissions accrued through each stage of the supply chain
This level of traceability has profound implications for brands, consumers and the wider industry. For example, many consumers want to know about the journey their purchases have taken, with 66% saying they are willing to pay more for ethically produced goods.
For brands, greater visibility can help with balancing supply and demand, and with managing supplier performance. As proven by the connected scarf, this becomes possible through comprehensive data capture through production, logistics, retail and beyond.
On a wider scale, complete supply chain visibility is important for recording carbon emissions and demonstrating compliance and certification. This is part of the reason why Digital Product Passports are being introduced with new environmental legislation.
Consumer engagement and Circularity
The same tech required to achieve supply chain visibility also delivers a host of other benefits, including new ways to communicate with consumers. For example, by scanning the Digital Care Label, consumers can access care instructions on how to properly wash their digitally connected scarf.
This information helps consumers to 'close the loop,’ empowering them to care for the item properly so that it lasts longer. In addition, brands, third party businesses and consumers can use the data to facilitate recycling, repurposing or resale.
Finally, with this technology, a huge range of sales and brand building tactics can be put to commercial use. Enhanced consumer engagement is achievable through pre- and post-sale promotions, cross selling, product customization tools and personalized offers.
As the digitally connected scarf goes to show, with Digital Solutions and an innovative mindset, there are no limits to what can be achieved.