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This implies a revision of the internal information system that monitors the fabrics availability, converts automatically the sizes of the customer into a plan for cutting the fabrics (nesting), reduces or eliminates all the steps between the acquisition of the orders and the start of the production of the garments through an automatic flow of the data from the order to the Cad-Cam systems.

It also implies the realisation of an order receiving system, based on the Internet, that uses EDI-EDIFACT technologies based on an update of the EDITEX subset and designed with a specific attention to the benefits deriving from the XML language.

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The architecture taken as reference is based on the WEB/Thin client paradigm.

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To realise a anthropometric data base, in support of, respectively, the supplier and the retailer, to better manage the market and size positioning (hypothesis about the human conformation) of their goods.

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To promote the change for the European industry of the sector under consideration from the mass-production to the made-to-measure paradigm to better satisfy the customer needs and better defend its positions from the low cost productions of the extra European competitors.

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In this framework, the integration with a technology that assures a better colour management and with tools to customise the goods will contribute to offer tools more appealing than the presently available ones.

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In perspective, starting from an improved representation of the customer's conformation, it will be possible to accomplish a further step, consisting in the design of the garment starting from the real customer's conformation.

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Specifically the technology suppliers will exploit commercially the results achieved in their field (Lectra the Order processing software, Neosis the Electronic catalogue, Cad Modelling the sizing machine, ENEA the colour management system).

The pilot users will deploy the system for their business in their pilot sites with no extra costs.

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- brochures and videotapes (Hitman, Coin, Lectra, Cad Modelling),

- pages on the companies' WEB sites (Coin, Neosis, AlFerano, Enea, Hitman),

- articles on fashion magazines (Hitman),

- mailings (for the e-catalogue Neosis, AlFerano for fashion)

- participation in fairs: Pitti Uomo in Florence for fashion, Ce-Bit Hannover and Modercom-Lisbon for e-catalogue (Neosis)

- organisation of a symposium in cooperation with the Italian Association of enterprises of the garment sector, named Moda Industria, to be organised by Euratex (the European Association located in Brussels)

- insertion of the Ishtar project results in the activities of promotion and diffusion of the innovation toward the textile industries (ENEA proposes Ishtar as a case study for a DemoCenter that it is going to set up in Florence)

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The espected results are:

- a fixed (the customer knows when the garment is ready) and reduced (2-3 weeks) lead-time for the made-to-measure and customised garment

- a dramatic reduction of the number of garment refused or requiring further changes, due to wrong measurements, from the present 50% to a 25% value.

- a remarkable reduction in delays/loss-of-orders due to the unavailabilty of the fabrics.

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- a WEB site to show the fabrics availability and the lead-time for the garment produced according with the needs of the customer and to receive orders (EDIFACT documents);

- an updated internal information management system that 'pushes' the orders directly in the production process;

- an order processing system that accepts both the absolute sizes of the customer and the differences from a reference model, and produces the nesting plan for the cutting machine (from the model and the customer's sizes it designs the altered model that fits the customer and designs the nesting plan for the fabrics);

- a Cad-Cam interface toward the nesting and cutting machines

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To promote an organisation that is less based on a seasonal approach, with high stock turn-over, reducing the waste of raw materials and human resources and passing from a push- to a pull-system, a change already achieved in the automotive industry.

To reduce seasonal unsold garments.

To promote the use of EDI documents based on the EDITEX sintax for the data interchange with other retailers and enterprises.

To increase the production of made-to-measure garments within five years from the initial 1250 pieces/year to the final 6500 pieces/year.

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To enhance the customer satisfaction, through a better quality of the measurements and more friendly and appealing tools to choose and customise the garment.

This will imply the realisation of specific contents of the electronic catalogue and a WEB site of the AlFerano company.

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