Production Sampling and the Green Quadrant

Selected ExcerptsFrom 2009 AATCC Conference

Dan RandallColorways 3/11/2009

2009 Color of the Year

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Color Technologies thatSave Money and the Planet

• Shade Bands with fewer Hands

• The $15 Sample Garment

• Virtual QC Check at the DC

Memories of Charleston

• Number of lab dips produced per year for Retail/Brand companies in the USA: 5,475,398

• Cost of producing these dips: • $481,835,024

• Cost of sending by courier: >$20,000,000

• Dips 5,475,398 x 4” size = 345 miles of dips end to end.

1 – Retailer A Production Sampling

• <2002 All SBs were sampled and expedited to Retailer’s Offices

• 2002-Present: Shift from Physical to Electronic Sampling

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From Physical to Electronic

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SBE Process

Images courtesy of

2008 Shade Band results

• Total SBs tested: 104,529• Total Approved: 82,769 (~80%

passing)• SB Physicals : 22,250

• SBs not requiring physicals: 82,279• Savings in shipping costs: $2.9M

2002-Present

• Shade Bands – Electronic: 464,200• Saving to Suppliers, shipping: $16.3M

• Lab Dips – 9,500 /month = 114,000 / year– 40% electronic = 45,600 – Savings in shipping cost: $1.6M

• Total Cost Savings in Shipping: $27.5M

2 - The $15 Sample Garment

• Lifesize• Color Accurate• Realistic

Did I mention they are printed on paper?

Visualize the collection

Garment MappingWith just one suitable plain ‘donor’ garment ……

and a pattern repeat in an electronic file……

orStripe dimensions….

and the required shades…….

Virtual Garments, Savings in..

Transporting SamplesTime-consuming Admin.

Making-up into garments

Slides courtesy of

3 - Virtual QC Check at the DC

• Sampling garments that are not measurable

• Denim, prints, for example

Communicating Quality

Photos courtesy of

Environmental Benefits

• Difficult to calculate exactly

• Approximate by– Shipping Process– Fuel Consumption– GHG (CO2) output

One Package from Suzhou

All maps by GoogleEarth

One Package from Suzhou

• Shanghai to Anchorage – 4,331 miles – 8.75 hrs– 8,500 gal Fuel

One Package from Suzhou

• Anchorage to Memphis Superhub – 3,142 miles – 6.25 hrs– 4,700 gal Fuel

One Package from Suzhou

• Memphis to Tulsa – 411 miles – 0.9 hrs– 675 gal Fuel

• Tulsa to Retailer– 101 miles, Truck– 7 MPG = 14.4 gal

One Package from Suzhou

• Total: 8,035 miles• Fuel Consumption:

– 13,889 gallons

• 4.6B gallons annually for shipping• 2.5B US deliveries• 2.4B Tons CO2 from US deliveries

Just ask yourself….

• Do I really need that 3rd Lab Dip?

• Do I really need to dip every color in the palette?

• Am I working toward digital color processes that reduce physical sampling?

We thank you

And the Planet Thanks you