11.10.2022 — News, Press release, Reports
A successful event at the pulse of time
That was the conclusion of the visitors to the DTB Annual Conference 2022. The DTB – Dialog Textil-Bekleidung e.V. presented itself in Munich on 29 August 2022 with topics that move the industry in the current times of change and speakers who gave impressive insights into technological progress.
Under the motto digitalisation along the value chain, the DTB – Dialog Textil-Bekleidung e.V., with the kind support of MobiMedia Group, invited participants to the first personal annual conference after a two-year break. DTB members, numerous interested parties and long-time companions met the day before the international textile trade fair MUNICH FABRIC START in Munich to listen to exciting contributions at the conference, exchange specialist knowledge with the speakers and make new contacts at the evening networking event.
After the long, enforced distance and the virtual conferences, finally a presence event again where representatives from abroad like Turkey could also participate. As soon as you entered the conference location, you could feel the positive atmosphere and the joy of seeing each other again. For me, it was another milestone that showed that the DTB is much more than a professional association – namely a circle of friends in the industry that has managed for decades to create a special atmosphere of friendship, partnership and a constructive exchange in which members and guests can and want to exchange views on professional and other topics in an informal setting.
Jan Hilger, Hilger Consulting – Interim Management, Host DTB Annual Conference
The title theme was illuminated by diverse presentations from different perspectives. It became apparent that digitalisation in the textile and clothing industry still has considerable potential for development. The biggest driver here is the possibility of using resources more effectively and thus the issue of sustainability through digitalisation. The speakers at the annual conference started with the basics: What is already possible for companies in the field of digital product development today and where do you start? Where does the customer stand in 3D product development? And what creative processes and ideas are there for the future? In this context, the live interview of DTB board member Roland Schuler, IB Company with this year’s winner of the Wilhelm Loch Award, Bülent Gazeloglu, was also exciting: Gazeloglu developed a modular system for the 3D design of the Windsor menswear line.
The speakers captivated their audience with many other concrete insights into current projects and professional background knowledge:
The annual conference has triggered a surge of motivation in all participants. Digitisation is no longer supported at departmental level; rather, the rationalisation effects result from the integration of processes across all participants in the value chain. That is Industrialisation 4.0!
We all realised that something has to happen in our heads, not only in our IT departments. Many thanks to the DTB for always creating a podium for these topics at an early stage.
Hannes Rambold, MobiMedia Group
The DTB Annual Conference 2022 showed that manufacturers are increasingly interested in digitalisation throughout the value chain. At present, however, despite great motivation, investment stops and bans on visits often stand in the way of innovations.
In the textile chain, the requirements for garment manufacturers today and in the future are more comprehensive than ever before. […] In addition to the core task of producing a good product, there is also a growing need for information and rules with regard to SCM and sustainability that must be mapped and verified. […] Furthermore, traditional sales with order tools and b2b must be digitalised in order to capture orders faster, more securely and at a distance; all the course must be set for e-commerce, marketplace business and marketing. In parallel, the IT organisation with PLM/ERP and DAM must always provide all the necessary PIM data and map it according to demand and customer requirements. Once all these affordable, simple tasks are done, the collection process starts again.
Ideally, sales data insight (EDI/API) and AI data will identify and factually underpin fashion trends so that planning and digital product development can more effectively support and complement physical product development at an earlier stage.
Just as sales shares the digital twin with the customer, in future the product manager and buyer in the textile prepress must be able to share the collection development digitally. Colour, colour matching, materials and product visualisations in 3D on realistic avatars intensify product development and collection decision-making.
For this we need a “digitised” pre-stage with textile, ingredients and accessories people, as well as IT, CAD, photo and render specialists for digital product staging and appearances on “fair/market platforms” to find and drive support in the exchange of colour, design ideas material and 3D visualisation. Optimisation and, if possible, standardisation should take place in all departments.
The resulting opportunities for sales, market launch or sourcing then lift the acceptance and efficiency of a collection, ideally reducing bums, overhangs and markdowns. We have come full circle with more sustainable collection development and market-driven products.
Wilfried Bäuning, CDO bugatti GmbH
All speakers agree that in the future, every single step from fabric to retail must be mapped as a digital process. This means not only a complete realignment and reorganisation of all previous processes, but also an even closer connection to suppliers and more transparency in product development. To ensure this, large investments in new technologies are often necessary – as well as special expertise among all employees:
Rethinking and expanding lived processes. For this demanding, individual, appropriate path of transformation of a brand/company and its employees, you need a good network of experts, practitioners and visionaries for exchange, incentive and outlook – you can only find this in the DTB. Therefore, from my point of view, this year’s annual conference under this motto and lectures was an absolute hit. Thank you very much.
Wilfried Bäuning, CDO bugatti GmbH
The DTB – Dialog Textil-Bekleidung e.V. continues to support knowledge transfer and exchange. For 2023, further projects and practical days are being planned with DTB board chairman Leonhard Kiel, Barth + Co Spedition GmbH & Co. KG and DTB Managing Director Susanne Paß, further projects and practical days on the topic are planned.
You can find all current and planned events at any time at www.dialog-dtb.de/events.
Further information on the MobiMedia Group, our sponsor of the annual conference, can be found on the DTB blog: www.dialog-dtb.de/blog
You can find first impressions of our annual conference on our Instagram account today and soon here on the blog.
You can also read a detailed report on our annual conference in the October issue of R+WTextilservice: R+WTextilservice – Reinigung – Wäscherei – Textilleasing (rw-textilservice.de)
DTB – Dialog Textil-Bekleidung is the knowledge network of the textile industry and, with its professional expertise, the number one contact for all questions along the textile chain. More than 230 member companies are currently organised in the DTB. The main focus of the DTB network is on the core competences of quality management, product development, sustainability, sourcing, digitalisation and training. With numerous webinars on current topics, the DTB provides regular training for its members and all interested parties.