California Apparel News

Los Angeles–based technology firm Tukatech Inc. apparently won’t miss a beat after its longterm software supplier, OptiTex USA Inc., recently severed ties with the company. OptiTex had an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement with Tukatech, which allowed the company to market and co-develop Optitex’s original CAD (computeraided design) product under the TukaCAD label.

Tukatech built up a strong business over the past eight years, but OptiTex President Yoram Burg and Tuka Chief Executive Officer Ram Sareen decided it was time to move on. “We had a good relationship but we had some different opinions on where our companies were going,” said Burg, speaking from the recent SPESA Expo in Miami.

Sareen apparently saw this coming. The company is in the midst of implementing a flurry of new projects.

On the CAD front, it’s in the process of acquiring LogicSoft, a technology firm in India that has spent the past couple of years developing Tukatech’s new CAD system, TukaCAD.net suite. The system includes apparel and textile design functions, which allow users to develop fabric prints and colorways as well as make patterns and storyboards and do grading and marking. The package also includes digital printing services and the ability to be visualized in 3-D.

“You can do this with $200 off-the-shelf software. Why pay thousands for these [builtin] 3-D systems?” said Sareen. The company is also using digital printers that can print colors and graphics directly onto pattern areas rather than an entire sheet of fabric or other material. Since the inks used in these printers can run up to $75 a yard, the cost savings can be significant, said Sareen.

The new suite impressed customers like Patagonia’s Pam Buckingham, who viewed it during a recent company presentation.

“Everything looks great so far. The product is one thing, but if you don’t have the people and expertise to back it up, what good is it? I’ve never been out on a limb here.”

Service continues to be the driving force behind the company’s strategy moving forward.

Tukatech’s TukaWeb division will launch a previously announced pattern and marker service with FedEx on Aug. 15. The service allows users to upload patterns on the tukaweb.com Web site and have them delivered to their Asian subcontractors within hours. Tuka plotters have been set up at FedEx’s Subic Bay facility in the Philippines, where workers process the patterns, roll them up in a tube and ship them to any destination within FedEx’s Asian network, which includes most all of Southeast Asia.

“You’re talking about saving 80 percent of the time and 50 percent of the cost from doing it manually,” said Sareen. “This will allow us to put the focus and benefit on the customer, to use the network we have in Asia,” added FedEx spokesman Steve Barber.

Other Tukatech projects include:

bull; Expanding East. The company will soon open a New York office on 34th Street headed by Susan Barber. Barber is a former vice president at Leslie Fay Brands and spent time working for Chico’s and industry consultancy Walter Wilhelm Associates.

bull; Student Rental Program. As part of its educational initiative, the company has launched a program for fashion students, offering its CAD products to full-time students for $25 to $40 per month with an option to buy. The leasing service is also available to non-students for rates of between $100 and $300.

bull; Virtual Dress Forms. As previously announced, the company has launched a dress form division called TukaForms. Customers get their fit models scanned by laser lights and are cloned with dress forms. The forms are made of a urethane material that the company said improves fittings. They also feature interchangeable parts for varying cup sizes.

bull; Training. Tukatech is building a classroom at its Los Angeles headquarters, where up to 30 students can learn about CAD, TukaWeb and other services.

bull; Sample Making. The company has recently launched a sample making service, in which it creates garments on-site for retailers and manufacturers.

With all these projects going, the company still has another one in the works with a major Fortune 500 company, which it plans to announce shortly. —Robert McAllister