Q1 2022 Newsletter

Coats Digital Connect Coats Digital Quarterly Newsletter

Industry Expert Opinion Insights

Coats Digital is Roundtable about Top 4 sourcing
driving industry taking action on fair strategies post
change wages pandemic
Page 3 Page 6 Page 7

Tusuka boosts employee job

satisfaction and increases
OTDP by 9%
Award-winning staff morale with staff able
to perform significantly more
Bangladesh garment efficiently.
manufacturer, Tusuka, Industry volatility as a result of
has seen efficiency gains the global pandemic has resulted
in increasing style changes and
by streamlining their smaller orders, which were difficult
production planning. to manage. FastReactPlan has
additionally enabled Tusuka to
With a total workforce of over reduce overtime costs, introduce
10,000, Tusuka has achieved a 7 faster order feeding processes
per cent drop in staff absenteeism and benefit from an overall
after investing in Coats Digital’s efficiency increase of 5 per cent,
FastReactPlan to consolidate data and an improvement in OTDP of
from multiple sources to improve 9 per cent. This has meant that The Results
visibility and transparency. Access Tusuka can now increase orders
to information in one place has and manage smaller and more • Overall efficiency increase of 5%
proved instrumental in boosting varied style orders effectively and • Increase in ODTP of 9%
profitably. • Reduced absenteeism of 7%
• Small scale orders managed effectively
• Reduction in overtime costs
“ Ultimately, FastReactPlan has created a truly happy, contented • Increased employee productivity
and harmonious working environment for us all. This benefit is
positively impacting our customers as we have more time to
deliver an outstanding customer service every time”

Sheikh Shariful Islam, New look

General Manager-Merchandising, Tusuka
website!
Get the latest on Coats Digital solutions
Introducing and see the value our solutions are
delivering to brands and manufacturers

our new look across the globe! We are excited to

launch our new website, available in five

website!
languages!

Visit Website

WIN A FREE IPAD!

FOLLOW US ON LINKEDIN BY END OF MAY FOR
A CHANCE TO WIN. SEE PAGE 7 FOR DETAILS. DIGITAL
 What’s
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Inside
03 Coats Digital
How we are driving industry change
08 Coats Digital solutions
An overview of Coats Digital connected solutions and
product updates highlighting the key new functionality
at your fingertips!

04 New customers
Featuring: DTRT (Ghana), Supertex (Colombia),
Tefron (Isreal), Tunicotex (Tunisia), Top Form (China)
09 Watch our new corporate
video
See how Coats Digital solutions cover the entire
eco-system to digitally transform the way fashion
leaders design, develop, cost, plan and manufacture.

05 Customer successes
Featuring: Azim Group (Bangladesh),
WinPro Handbag (Hong Kong) 10 Regional updates
Regional highlights from our teams across the
globe covering the last quarter.

06 Thought leadership –
in the news
12 Highlights
Find out what else has been going on across the
globe. Featuring Coats Sustainability Week and an
Expert Opinion: Roundtable discussion hosted by opportunity for us to promote your company in a
The Interline, focusing on how to address fair wages within customer success video!
the fashion supply chain.

Q4 2021
Highlights
Our quest to
transform the
industry
In December, Akash Shah gave
an exclusive interview to Apparel
Resources. There, he shared his
strategy that differentiates Coats
Digital in a market crowded with
digital transformation options. He
offers insight into his approach,
leveraging deep industry knowl-
edge, technology expertise and
strong product solutions.
DTRT adopted A new era of Sustainability: Why
FastReactPlan people are still the missing piece of
DTRT was founded on the the sustainability puzzle – and what
principle that the apparel
manufacturing industry has fashion can do about it
the power to drive significant,
In the wake of the pandemic, sustainability strategies are
positive change to communities in
undergoing greater scrutiny, and industry-wide, people are
emerging economies.
coming a distant second to planet. Fashion needs to take
Find out how FastReactPlan
measurable action on living wages - but how?
supports DTRT’s uniquely
Read the article published in The Interline
sustainable production facility in
Ghana.

Read More Read More Read More

DIGITAL
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 Director’s
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

A personal message from
Akash Shah, MD, Coats Digital
We are extremely proud that
Coats Digital is playing a catalyst
role in speeding up the digital
transformation of the fashion
supply chain. As we continue to
welcome new customers and
partners into our rapidly growing
global family, we are delighted to
launch our new quarterly Coats
Digital newsletter.
Message
2022 will see us connecting
even more talent with enhanced
technologies to ensure a better,
more transparent and sustainable
world.
We thank you for being a hugely
important part of progressing your
business and taking the industry
forward. Watch this space!

Packed with useful product

information, updates, customer
success stories and industry
insights, we hope our newsletter
provides valuable information
that helps new and existing
customers to optimise their digital
Image
transformation journeys over the
long term.

Akash Shah,
Director, Coats Digital

Coats Digital – Our story and why

digital adoption is the only way to
survive!
Coats Digital Managing Director,
Akash Shah provides an exclusive
interview to Fibre2Fashion that
featured in the February issue.
He explains why the fashion
supply chain must accept digital
adoption to survive in today’s
transformative environment.
Akash gives incredible insight
into how technology supports
the production speed, agility,
efficiency and sustainability
priorities of the market. “Sense
of urgency, speed, proactiveness
and a true obsession to create
customer value drives our teams
to ensure we are the catalyst for
this revolution and the de-facto
digital transformation partner for
the industry. We’re making real
positive change happen which
has been long overdue in this
industry. For us at Coats Digital,
challenges are merely masked
opportunities to fully explore and
find meaningful solutions for.”
Read more about the perfect
approach.

“Manufacturers and brands need to realise that digital transformation is

a must, regardless of the partner or solution.”

DIGITAL
3
 New
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Customers
DTRT Tefron Top Form
Founded on the principle that Established in 1977, Tefron has To overcome these potential Top Form identified a need
the apparel manufacturing long been a pioneer in cutting- future challenges, and to to replace existing processes
industry has the power to drive edge, seamless garment position the business for which relied on estimates
significant, positive change construction, and today the ongoing growth, Tefron chose and historical data for SMV
to communities in emerging company specialises in the use to partner with Coats Digital calculations. By implementing
economies, DTRT operates a of digital printing techniques selecting FastReactPlan on GSDCost, Top Form can
uniquely sustainable production and 3D knitting to produce the basis of its status as the ensure garments are designed
facility in Ghana. Employing intimates and sportswear for industry’s leading production and developed at the right
more than 2,500 people across major global brands such as, planning tool. price point, thereby optimising
35 production lines, DTRT’s Victoria’s Secret and Under Read more. margin and increasing
Ghana site produces sports Armour. profitability, while ensuring fair
and sports-lifestyle apparel labour costs are accurately
– including polo shirts, fleece reflected, thus benefiting both
jackets, and t-shirts for brands the business and its workers.
like Ralph Lauren and Chaps. Read more.
To balance the ambition for
precipitous growth with the
company’s founding mission,
DTRT needed a new way to
maximise efficiency across both
existing and planned production
lines. Prior to implementing
FastReactPlan, this efficiency
was held back by a reliance
on manual processes and
disconnected data. Read more.

Supertex Tunicotex
The leading sports apparel Supertex Group will deploy After the disruption caused
manufacturer located in FastReactPlan, which leads the by the COVID-19 pandemic,
Colombia and El Salvador, market in production planning, Tunicotex began to re-evaluate
Supertex Group specialises across its factories in Colombia its processes, systems and
in sports apparel, for brands and El Salvador – which technologies and identified
like Adidas, Under Armour, together employ more than several roadblocks to its
Patagonia, and North Face. 5,000 people and produce 1.7 ambitions for post-pandemic
As the next step in a business- million units per month. growth. Before implementing
wide digitization journey, Read more. FastReactPlan, key factory
departments relied on data
housed in disconnected
spreadsheets, and manual
“Not only is DTRT focused communication via email to
on jumpstarting the orchestrate planning and pre-
economy of developing production. Read more.
nations and creating
thousands of essential
jobs, but they are
committed to doing this
in a safe, fair, and ethical
way – all of which are
principles that Coats
Digital has long shared.”

DIGITAL
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Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter
Azim Group increases
planning efficiency by 15%
Azim Group is a pioneer of the
Bangladesh garment industry,
producing garments for leading
brands in the United States,
Europe, Asia and South America,
including CK Jeans, Berksha,
Walmart, Kohl’s, Perry Ellis,
Elcorte Ingles, Lands’s End, and
Falabella.
Committed to becoming a role
model for environmental and
social responsibility, they are not
only actively engaged with global
programmes, but Azim Group
sought to apply digital tools that
would support their overall goals.
WinPro Handbag (Hong Kong)
improves planning time by 40%
Established in 1976, WinPro
Handbag Limited is a Hong
Kong-based manufacturing
company specialising in handbag
manufacturing. WinPro Handbag
manufacturers a wide range
of products for both men and
women, including PU/nylon bags,
casual bags and wallets. They
have over 60 production lines
located in Shen Zhen (China) and
Cambodia.
With rapidly changing consumer
demands and the increasing
number of styles each season,
WinPro needed an efficient
planning tool that would
allow effective coordination
and communication between
departments for task prioritisation
and enhanced visibility. Before
adopting FastReactPlan, the team
used multiple spreadsheets and
emails, making the entire process
unnecessarily complex, clumsy
and time-consuming.
5
FASTREACTPLAN
Prior to implementing
FastReactPlan, capacity
management and line planning
teams lacked the pinpoint
accuracy required for rapid
response to buyer’s latest
changes. As a result, additional
effort and regular reviews were
needed with merchandising
to ensure all teams had a
unified approach to delivery.
FastReactPlan changed
everything!
Read more
FASTREACTPLAN
By streamlining production
planning and control using
FastReactPlan from Coats Digital,
WinPro Handbag now has a faster,
more accurate planning process
that provides greater visibility
and coordination, resulting in
increased efficiency and improved
delivery performance.
Read more
Customer
Successes
The Results
Plan-based capacity monitoring in
minutes
Standardised PO, colour, and delivery
level visibility across all departments
15% improvement in Plan vs Actual
efficiency
7% factory efficiency improvement
68% reduction in report generating time
97% faster order confirmation
Automated data capture and
consolidation
The Results
Factory efficiency increased by 4.4%
within 8 months
Plan versus Actual production between
95% – 105%
More accurate material supply resulting
in 95-98% OTDP of material
40% reduction in time spent in planning
and communication
Saved 40 hours per week in meeting
time
DIGITAL
 Thought
Leadership
Expert
Opinion:
Webinar Roundtable
Discussion: Taking
action on fair wages (on-
demand)
If you missed The Interline’s
roundtable discussion, you can
watch on-demand. COVID has
shone a spotlight on brands’
and retailers’ sustainability
strategies, with consumers
and regulators demanding
greater visibility, transparency,
and accountability than ever.
But while ‘the planet’ is at the
forefront of most sustainability
statements, ‘the people’ are still
under-represented, making it
difficult for the fashion industry
to take quantifiable action on
vital issues like fair wages in
fashion.
Speakers from
the Fair Wage
Association,
Hirdaramani
Group and
Coats Digital discuss the
importance of building more
complete sustainability
strategies that tackle both
environmental and ethical
imperatives in a world that’s
changing rapidly.
Watch the webinar.
DIGITAL
Stuart McCready-Stocks
Coats Digital Commercial Brands Director
Podcast:
The Data Driven Supply
Chain
Listen to
the latest
Podcast
published by The Interline,
featuring Coats Digital’s
Commercial Brands Director,
Stuart McCready-Stocks,
as he discusses the various
ways supply chain data can
transform how the fashion
industry operates across the
board, from efficient production
to ethical components. This
Interline podcast is hosted by
Editor-in-Chief, Ben Hanson
and includes commentary
by Mark Dodds, Materials,
Lifecycle & Impact Manager at
L’Estrange London and Sharon
Benning-Prince, COO of
Justice In Fashion.
Listen to the Podcast
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter
Point
VisionPLM for
of View:
How to overcome Brands and
‘redundant’ software
features and
Manufacturers
successfully address Unprecedented volatility,
pain points more styles and smaller
order quantities are driving
greater complexity, speed
Newly emerging software
to market and margin
developers are diverting away
from the digitization objective
and integrating features into
pressures. You need fast,
efficient and sustainable
manufacturer’s own redundant
design development!
software, but there is a solution.
Coats Digital’s MD, Akash
Shah, shares his point of view
in this article published by
Apparel Resources, “Software
companies often fall into the
trap of bespoke development
to try and fill a gap in the
market or to try and cater to
one customer’s requirements,
but it’s never usually enough
and often leads to more
development being required.
This requires additional
resources (people, time, funds),
and can ultimately lead to an
unsatisfied customer...”
Read the full article
Brand
opinion:
Is digitising the
fashion supply
chain a flawed
concept?
Coats Digital’s Akash
Shah explains why greater transparency, visibility and
sustainability of the emerging circular economy simply cannot be
achieved without digitizing the fashion supply chain. Read this
insightful article, to understand how the pandemic has rammed
home the fact that companies need to adopt digital processes
fast - if they stand any chance of surviving an increasingly
complex and uncertain future. Article originally published in Just
Style, Feb 2022. Read article.
6
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter
EBOOK: Top 4 sourcing
strategies post pandemic
In the last twenty four months, the
ground has shifted beneath the
fashion industry. From uncertainty
in raw material sourcing to
rapid channel changes at the
point of sale, via the complex,
fragile web of global sourcing,
production, and logistics, every
long-held assumption has been
challenged. Every point of failure
has been stress-tested. And every
business has needed to adapt to
unpredictability and day-to-day
volatility on a seismic scale.
Today, as the pandemic continues
to ebb and flow unequally around
the world, the question every
brand, retailer and their supply
chain partners need to answer
is what tomorrow looks like, and
whether they are collectively
prepared.
“Being able to confidently
predict the results that
can be delivered,
and to communicate
constraints where they
exist, is now essential for
manufacturers needing
to meet their own
performance targets.”
7
Read our latest eBook to find
out why the pandemic changed
sourcing priorities permanently
- and how to prepare for what’s
next.
Download the eBook now English
Spanish I Vietnamese I Korean
Win an
SWEEPSTAKE:
iPad
Win a Free iPad!
Follow Coats Digital on All new followers to Coats Digital’s
LinkedIn in April/May 2022 LinkedIn page in April and May will
and be in with a chance to be automatically entered and will
win an iPad! stand a chance to win a 2021
Apple iPad* (10.2inch, Wi-Fi, 64GB).
To celebrate the launch of
our first-ever newsletter -
we’ve got three iPads* to The Winners of the Sweepstakes will be
give away in a sweepstakes selected in a random draw from among all
draw open to new followers of eligible new followers gained throughout the
Coats Digital’s LinkedIn page
promotion period. We’ll know who you are! The
winners will be announced in our Q2 newsletter!
throughout April and May
* Subject to availability | Read Terms & Conditions
2022. Enter now!
DIGITAL
Article: Right Manufacturers around the
globe have been grappling with
steps for fabric
different fabric saving measures
to make their garment cost
more competitive in the current
buying dynamics of the market.
Read this insightful article by
Understand the right way Rahul Bhardwaj, Product Owner
to reduce fabric buying at Coats Digital, to understand
costs. the key challenges hindering
accurate fabric buying and how
Fabric cost is one of the biggest Coats Digital’s fabric optimisation
cost factors of the garment solutions could greatly reduce
manufacturing process trailed by fabric overbuying, underbuying
labour cost. and fabric wastage.
DIGITAL
 Solution
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Overview
Solution eco-system across the fashion
supply chain - from ‘Plan to Pack’

Design and
Development

In our latest bulletin for Find out how FastReactPlan

FastReactPlan, we focus on
materials planning. One of
Shopfloor Method-Time-Cost the ‘key pillars’ of planning is
Execution Optimisation
materials and what’s the point
of having a great capacity plan
if we do not know the current
material status? The simple
answer is, there isn’t one!
can take your plan, BOM, stocks
and deliveries into account in
a single view, providing colour
coding which alerts you to any
potential issues before they
happen. View the Q1 Bulletin

Fabric Production Planning

Optimisation and Control

DIGITAL
IntelloBuy allows manufacturers
to accurately estimate fabric

VisionPLM is an intuitive, flexible
and scalable, browser-based
fashion PLM and sourcing
solution that streamlines
and integrates key business
processes. Configured to
reflect industry best practices,
VisionPLM offers core product
lifecycle management and
extended sourcing functionality,
creating ‘one version of the
truth’: from design, material and
product development (including
tech packs), to sampling,
approvals, costing, vendor
capacity management, order
allocation and purchase order
status updates.
Product Update:
Learn more about the latest
features that have been
added during recent releases,
including active flags on
customers and suppliers, the
ability to unapprove a costing/
supplier profile and expanded
functionality for ‘product bill of
materials’. View the Q1 Bulletin.
Digitally
consumption at the buying stage.
This allows manufacturers to
GSDCost is the international buy the correct amount of fabric
standard for establishing and
optimising accurate method-time-cost
for their orders, reducing fabric
costs and increasing margins.
transforming
benchmarks for sustainable garment
cost optimisation and manufacturing
Learn more
the fashion
excellence.
Product Update: supply chain
GSDCost supports a more
The first phase of KPI Reporting
collaborative, transparent and
has been launched. The two KPI
sustainable supply chain, in which
reports - Key Metrics Report and
brands and manufacturers establish
Trend Analysis Report, provide
and optimise ‘International Standard
valuable insights and key metrics
Time Benchmarks’ using standard
to business success. With the
motion codes and predetermined
data warehouse project kicking
times. This use of a common
off, there will be more dynamic
language and standards supports
and holistic reports to come.
accurate cost prediction, fact based
negotiation, and a more efficient
garment manufacturing process,
while concurrently delivering on CSR
commitments. Read more
Res.Q is a dynamic suite of digital
solutions focused on the factory shop
floor, delivering rapid data insights,
improved decision making and better
performance. Solutions are focused
on quality and machine management,
line layout planning and production
tracking. Learn more

DIGITAL
8

Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter
Introducing Coats Digital –
watch the video!
Proud of our heritage!
Coats Digital is the software business
of Coats Group, the world’s leading
industrial thread company and a
trusted industry player.
9
Company
Updates
As the leading digital
transformation partner for
the fashion supply chain,
we are proud to power
sustainable processes and
high value insights through
connected technologies.
We leverage deep industry
and technology expertise
to help brands, sourcing
companies and manufacturers
optimise, connect and
accelerate business critical
processes from design and
development to method-time-
cost optimisation, production
planning and control, fabric
optimisation and shop floor
execution.
New look
New website!
website!
We are excited to launch our new website, available
in five languages! Get the latest on Coats Digital
solutions, industry insights and see the value our
solutions are delivering to brands and manufacturers
across the globe! Visit Website
Win an
SWEEPSTAKE:
iPad
Win a Free iPad!
Follow Coats Digital on All new followers to Coats Digital’s
LinkedIn in April/May 2022 LinkedIn page in April and May will
and be in with a chance to
win an iPad!
be automatically entered and will
stand a chance to win a 2021
To celebrate the launch of Apple iPad* (10.2inch, Wi-Fi,
our first-ever newsletter - 64GB).
we’ve got three iPads* to
give away in a sweepstakes
The Winners of the Sweepstakes will be
selected in a random draw from among all
eligible new followers gained throughout the
draw open to new followers of
Coats Digital’s LinkedIn page
promotion period. We’ll know who you are! The
winners will be announced in our Q2 newsletter!
throughout April and May
* Subject to availability | Read Terms & Conditions
2022. Enter now!
DIGITAL
DIGITAL
 Regional
Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Updates
South East Asia
Market Analysis:
Stephen Dodgson, Regional
Director, S.E. Asia at Coats Digital,
collaborated with David Birnbaum
on the Vietnam section of the
February issue of ‘The Birnbaum
Strategic Sourcing Report’.
Coats Digital as well as our
parent, Coats Group, are heavily
invested in Vietnam from both
a manufacturing and digital
transformation perspective. Read
this insightful report to learn about
the current state of the garment
manufacturing industry both in
Vietnam and around the globe.
The report contains a 100+ page
monthly compendium of current
US import data.
Customer Success:
Duc Hanh (Vietnam)
reduces fabric wastage by
2 percent
With a capacity of 2.2 million
pieces a year, and 18 production
lines spread across a 32,000m2
facility, Duc Hanh specialises
in delivering volume without
compromising on the quality
its customer’s demand. Read
about how Duc Hanh moved
from manual processes and a
homegrown spreadsheet solution
to implementing IntelloCut to
achieve some staggering results!
Learn more.

LATAM Colombiatex 2022 Coats Digital’s first customer in Argentina.

Colombiatex 2022 provided Oscar
Gonzalez and the team an opportunity
to resume conversations with several
companies in person for the first time
since early 2020!
RI Intertrading &
Texturerías
RI Intertrading is one of the last adidas
suppliers in the region to adopt GSDCost
and is
Coats Digital now supplies customers in
12 LATAM countries!
Supertex
Having concluded the implementation of
FastReactPlan in Colombia, Coats Digital
is now moving into El Salvador where
Supertex currently has 3000 operators
and is expanding its operations.

Go lives:
We want to congratulate the following customers on their solution Go Lives over the past quarter:

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Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Greater China
New Appointment: South Asia
We are excited to welcome Liv
Zhang to lead the sales team in
Customer Success:
GCR. Liv’s initial focus will be Texeurop automates 58% of
to build the Coats Digital brand, its cutting room processes
increase visibility and expand our
customer base in the region. Established in 2005, Texeurop (BD)
Ltd. is a composite knitted fabric
Customer Focus: and garment manufacturer located
Aimer, an underwear brand in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Texeurop
and factory in China supplying has an all in one set-up with
men’s, ladies and children’s inhouse knitting, dyeing (fabric and
garments for international brands, yarn), washing, garment dyeing,
including Decathlon, began garment production, embroidery
using FastReactPlan at the end and printing facilities.
of last year. Adoption of this tool
will enable Aimer to see and Find out how Texeurop adopted
continuously monitor plan vs more efficient wastage tracking and
actual efficiency at a stable level streamlined processes with Coats
for daily, weekly and monthly Digital’s IntelloCut. Read more
reporting. FastReactPlan has
been successfully integrated with
internal ERP and MES systems
to incorporate order source and
production data to provide a single
data view and one version of the
truth!

EMEA
Digital Futures Event:
In collaboration with Manchester
University and The Interline, Coats
Digital is proud to be supporting
and speaking at the Digital
Futures Industry Summit, an
event looking to enthuse the next
generation of fashion students
to consider a career in fashion
technology. Learn more.

EMEA Expansion:
We are pleased to announce the
expansion of our EMEA footprint
with the addition of new teams
in Turkey and Egypt to support
the increasing demand for
Coats Digital solutions in these
countries.

DIGITAL
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 Coats Digital Connect I Q1 2022 Newsletter

Higlights
Want to increase your
company’s global exposure?
We would love to make you the star of our next customer video!

Download our one-page flyer to learn more about what, why,

how and where. If you are interested, please reach out to your
local Coats Digital associate, or contact the marketing team on
marketing.coatsdigital@coats.com.

We look forward to telling your story!

Learn More

Sustainability Sustainability
Week Report 2021
In March, Coats Digital joined Coats Group to promote
Sustainability Week.
Read the Coats Sustainability
In March, Coats Digital joined Coats Group to promote Sustainability Week.
Report for key sustainability
Sustainability is at the heart of our business model and we are committed to
performance data
pioneering new and meaningful solutions that facilitate the widespread acceleration
of sustainability programmes for the global apparel manufacturing sector.
Download now
Find out more

WEBINAR
Time is
Watch a live panel discussion with

Targeting
members of our Sustainability
Delivery Team as they discuss

Circularity
circularity
running
Watch Video
out – we
can help!
#1 for Production Planning Translating sustainability targets
into actions and outcomes,
requires the optimisation,
automation and digitization of
business critical processes which
support increased agility and a Find out how Coats Digital could
move to on-demand production, support you on your sustainability
more targeted product journey.
development, increased efficiency
and reduced wastage, as well
Find out more
as the adoption of international
standards for sustainable
manufacturing methods and
living wages.

DIGITAL
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