Coats launches 'Colour StockMatch' to manage thread stocks

Coats’ new Coats Colour StockMatch tool helps customers keep track of thread stock quantities in warehouses as well as providing a solution for faster thread sampling.

A factory with five hundred sewing machines will typically have between 40,000 to 60,000 excess thread cones in the warehouse.  The excess thread is usually only eliminated by selling to dealers or traders at heavily discounted prices. 

Thread is currently ordered against each finished goods production run, taking into account style, size and colour. As thread has to match fabric, it is difficult to check thread stocks in the warehouse before making fresh orders. Therefore often a new order is placed when a close enough thread match may already exist in the warehouse. As a result this causes delays in prototype sampling as customers await a new order and exacerbates the excess stock issue.

Coats Colour StockMatch provides a solution to both thread problems. Using the electronic Capsure device which can be preloaded with the customer’s shade cards, the nearest thread match can now be conveniently and accurately identified from existing excess thread stocks.

Frazer Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Coats plc, said: ‘Coats Colour StockMatch was developed in response to customer feedback and our own research which found that typically 15% excess thread is ordered as standard to take into account built in efficiency factors such as machine operator capabilities, thread breakage and waste. Coats Colour StockMatch further demonstrates our commitment to sustainable, efficient cost effective solutions that meet our customers’ needs.’

About Coats

With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world's leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, at home in more than 70 countries, employing 20,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2012 were US$1.7bn.

Our well-known brands and strong relationships with customers and consumers mean our products and services meet current and future needs. Our company-wide understanding of our business partners and consumers, coupled with the deep expertise of our people, builds trust and certainty.

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