Industrial thread and consumer textile producer Coats Group on Friday announced the launch of CoatsMatch, a web-based service for the sewn products industry.
Described as a color-reading tool that communicates instantaneously with the company’s mobile applications, the device can help industry workers retrieve a color from their physical inspiration—even from something like an autumn leaf.
After taking a photo of a color with the CoatsMatch device, the image is then loaded onto the Colour Select App, where it can be compared to the Coats Colour Atlas (comprising more than 7,500 shades) or a user’s own color library. Hues can also be shared with other users along the supply chain, like fabric manufacturers, or referenced in the Coats Colour Compare App, which allows users to compare physical fabric with their chosen color, among other things.
According to the company, CoatsMatch—much like its predecessor, Colour Express—is portable and user-friendly, in addition to providing an objective digital representation of a color as opposed to the subjective view that humans have.
Coats said the technology will reduce lead times and the cost involved in the color design and approval processes because less sample iterations are required to go back and forth between the fabric mill and the design office.
“CoatsMatch is another clear example of Coats using its global expertise to deliver customer-led innovation,” said Rajiv Sharma, CEO of industrial. “Every year a substantial amount of money is wasted through inefficiencies in the color supply chain within the sewn products industry. CoatsMatch helps reduce downtime and waste, resulting in lower costs for customers.”