California Apparel News

Tukatech Inc.'s TukaWeb division has formed a strategic alliance with the Memphis, Tenn.–based FedEx Corp. to set up a pattern and marker-making service in Asia.

Tukatech will outfit FedEx’s sorting facility in Subic Bay in the Philippines with 72-inch TukaJet inkjet plotters. The machines will produce garment patterns and markers for distribution to Asian factories contracted by apparel companies.

Users can upload orders through TukaWeb, Tukatech’s Internet-based design center. The orders are then wired to FedEx, plotted within a few hours and shipped to their final destination in Asia, said Ram Sareen, Tukatech’s chief executive officer.

“We can do this within 24 hours and have a [physical] pattern on someone’s doorstep,” Sareen said. “This process usually takes about five or six days, so you’re saving time as well as half the cost.”

Sareen said that Tukatech will take care of the required customs paperwork and tracking.

The service will benefit companies that use contractors that do not work in CAD (computer-aided design) or have a plotter, said Sareen, adding that the service will also handle file conversions from various manufacturers of CAD equipment.

Tukatech is currently training FedEx workers to operate the plotters, and the service will be operational in the coming weeks, Sareen said. Users will pay nominal TukaWeb fees, as well as FedEx fees for printing and shipping services. Companies using the service could save up to 50 percent off the cost of traditional means, he said.

Tukatech also plans to set up more than 1,200 plotters in Kinko’s copy and design centers throughout the world, Sareen said. Kinko’s was recently purchased by FedEx for $2.4 billion and has been rebranded as FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Centers.

FedEx has set its sights on the apparel and textile industries in recent months. The company, which conducted surveys during February’s MAGIC International show in Las Vegas, determined that there is a big move toward mass customization. FedEx has also been at a number of recent apparel trade shows marketing its shipping, freight and customs services for apparel companies that use offshore contractors. Now the company is looking to capitalize on the production side of the apparel business.

For more information, go to www.tukaweb.com. —Robert McAllister