Freudenberg Performance Materials opened
its first Shirt Technology Center in China at the Nantong facility. The world’s
leading specialist in woven, knitted and nonwoven interlinings is thus
expanding its service and support for shirt manufacturers in the country.
As introduced, the support offered by the
center covers the fit, processing and uses of interlinings and collars.
Together with their customers, the Freudenberg specialists develop perfect
collars and interlinings meticulously designed down to the last detail. The
center provides shirt manufacturers with complete sample collars, thus enabling
them to speed up start of production.
According to Freudenberg, the Shirt
Technology Center has a philosophy that is both simple and challenging: to
deliver the very best quality. A perfect collar can only be created if design,
pattern construction and interlinings are perfectly matched.
The Freudenberg specialists advise
manufacturers on all aspects of collar making – from the latest market trends
through design, pattern construction and interlining combinations right down to
processing – always focusing on the interaction between design, outer fabric
and interlining.
Freudenberg also offers customers seasonal
trend collections of fashionable collar styles coupled with the best
interlining combinations. As a result, customers can choose from a broad range
of sewn collars.
Additionally, Freudenberg provides
customized technological analysis of collars and neckbands with a view to
optimizing fit and look. This forms the basis for the joint development of
CAD-engineered pattern construction for the outer fabric and interlinings.
State-of-the-art equipment including
cutting, fusing and sewing machines as well as special equipment such as collar
turning machines and various pressing machines are used to manufacture the
perfect sample collar. The collar interlinings not only perfectly match the
design and the outer fabric; they are also precisely engineered to minimize
errors when attaching and to make sewing much easier.
“Our Freudenberg Shirt Technology Center
offers our customers quantifiable added value: a good collar is often a critical
factor in the consumer’s purchase decision,” explains Jonathan Oh, Head of
Regional Business Unit Apparel Asia at Freudenberg Performance Materials.
The support and development services for
collars offered by the center also include individual training on interlinings
and their processing, thus increasing customer benefits still further.
The Shirt Technology Center in Nantong
collaborates closely with Freudenberg’s Global Shirt Competence Center in Zug,
Switzerland, where activities include tracking the latest fashion trends, using
the most advanced fabrics, and designing up-to-the-minute collar collections
for customers to use. In total, over 5,000 collar styles are available.