A&E, D'luxe Handbags, Tomwell Garment Co.

1.5.15

Today, A&E hosted us at their manufacturing facilities in Dongguan, China. After briefing us about the company, their values and customer commitment, we headed to their dying area. An impressive amount of thought goes into the amount of grey good vs. dyed good inventory as well as manufacturing productivity. Color communication also was stressed, noting how important it is to please the customer when color matching a sample swatch or item throughout all light sources. Once our tour concluded in the due house, we went outside to view the water purification system where 50% of the water is reused. 

The second half of the day brought valuable industry knowledge from the A&E staff about thread production and digital color technology advancement. A&E currently uses an onscreen program that pairs with a spectrophotometer to color match with their database to create samples for customers. This innovation makes it possible to get the product to the consumer faster.

After lunch, we traveled to D'luxe handbags factory and Tomwell Garment Company. We had the opportunity to view sample, cutting, assembly, and inspection rooms at both plants. It was impeccable to learn and then view the possible 100 pieces and processes going into a single item, with each of those being handmade, glued, or painted. Coming from a consumer standpoint, I now appreciate the added value of a $400 handbag!