Putting colour into the supply chain

The Star, Oct 2004

MALACCA-based eWarna has released version 2.0 of XMatch , its web-based colour workflow application, which it claimed speeds up the colour submission and quality control processes.  It also improves communication and collaboration within the “colour supply chain” in the textile and apparel industries, for example. 

XMatch 2.0 links to PLM (product lifecycle management), CAD (computer-aided design) and other supply chain solutions, eWarna said in a statement. 

Typically, a colour-management system used for colour approval works with data that is also used in PLM solutions with only the actual colour reflectance measurement being unique to the colour manager, the company said. 

Without an easy link, this data must be retyped for every colour approval.  Having an API (application programming interface) that most industry-leading PLM solutions can communicate with, “jobs” or specifications created by designers and merchandisers on the PLM side could be directed to automatically create colour jobs for matching approval in XMatch . 

Colourists and dyers throughout the supply chain can use XMatch to manage their digital lab dip approvals, bulk approvals, bulk sorting and so on, with the API ensuring that the status of each stage is also presented in the PLM tracking module, the Multimedia Super Corridor-status company claimed.  A trial version is available at http://ocxws.ewarna.com/xmatch .