Clothing maker sews seeds of sustainable growth via digital eco-factory

Made Smarter, the government-led industry-backed technology adoption programme, has supported Creative Apparel with a £20,000 grant for a data and systems integration project that will automate and speed up the process of receiving orders right through to production management and dispatch.

Meanwhile, the business has secured a further £20,000 for a project which uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to collect fashion data from social media influencers and other sources, enabling designers to respond quicker and more effectively to trends.

The business’s ongoing partnership with Made Smarter also includes taking advantage of its digital internship scheme, which matches undergraduates, master’s and PhD students with manufacturers to work on live projects across.

Established in 1988 as a two-person screen printing operation, Creative Apparel now employs over 80 people and produces around 50,000 items of clothing each week for the fast fashion industry, specialising in screen printing and embroidery.

Managing Director Phil Millar believes putting technology at the heart of growth plans will increase turnover fourfold within five years and create 50 new high-value jobs.

Productivity is forecast to increase by 30%, and waste is set to reduce by 20%, but crucially, the business will lessen the environmental and social impact of the clothes they make.

Since its launch in 2019 Made Smarter’s Adoption Programme in the North West has worked with more than 1,200 businesses, including many in the textile sector, offering expert, impartial technology advice, digital transformation workshops to help manufacturers take their first steps, a leadership programme, and funded digital technology internships.

The programme has supported more than 200 technology projects which are forecast to deliver an additional £176M in GVA for the North West economy over the next three years, create over 920 new jobs, and upskill 1,764 existing roles.