Coats has acquired ThreadSol, a cloud-based digital applications provider, which becomes part of Coats Global Services.
ThreadSol’s technology focuses on fabric usage optimisation in apparel manufacturing and helps customers reduce fabric waste and cost, and establish accurate product costing. It uses proprietary algorithms built on artificial neural networks to optimise the purchasing and consumption of fabric by real-time data analytics through IoT devices. This reduces costs and waste through cut-plan process and fabric roll utilisation which helps solve one of the most pressing and complex problems in the apparel supply chain.
ThreadSol’s products provide an excellent fit with Coats existing Fast React Systems and GSD range of Evolve™, Vision™, Align™, Enterprise™ and Quest™. This complementary suite of software solutions for the apparel and footwear industries will enable brands, retailers and manufacturers to drive productivity gains, supply chain control and speed to market.
Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: ‘ThreadSol is an exciting acquisition that supports a key aspect of our growth strategy: to build an innovative software solutions business for the apparel and footwear industries. We will be able to draw upon our demonstrable track record of successfully integrating bolt-on companies following the acquisitions of Patrick Yarn Mill, Gotex and Fast React Systems, all of which are performing well under our ownership.’
Headquartered in Singapore, ThreadSol was founded in Delhi in 2013. It has development centres across India as well as representative offices in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. ThreadSol has over 100 employees, services some 130 businesses in 13 countries and plans more than 1.5 billion garments every year through its platform. In 2018, its sales will be circa $2.3m. The acquisition is for a cash consideration of up to US$12m.
Manasij Ganguli, Co-founder, ThreadSol said: ‘We are very excited to become part of the Coats family which is a major step in the growth and development of our business. We will be able to leverage Coats’ unrivalled global footprint and strong corporate brand and have the opportunity to collaborate with and gain additional levels of expertise and insight from a global industry leader.’
A key part of Coats’ strategy for development and growth is to collaborate with companies with unique capabilities that can leverage off the existing Coats network. The acquisition of ThreadSol follows the recent announcement by Coats of its strategic investment in Twine, an Israeli based technology start-up which has developed a revolutionary digital thread dyeing system. Coats has a highly successful track record of acquisitions including: Patrick Yarn Mill, a manufacturer of high performance engineered yarns, based in North Carolina, US; Gotex, a Spanish company which designs and manufactures high-tech industrial yarns and tapes used in the telecommunications, energy and oil and gas sectors; FRS, a UK based company which provides software solutions and expertise to improve operational efficiency and speed to market in apparel and footwear and GSD, a UK based company supplying expert management solutions that analyse time, cost and production capability in the sewn products sector.
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