Sustainability requires a holistic view of the product, which also includes labels and hang tags. Here, too, there is enormous potential for more sustainable solutions that improve the ecological balance of products, minimize risks, and save resources and costs. With the IntelliGen™ Design Tool, ITL Group has developed a simple and effective tool that makes it easy for fashion brands to make more sustainable decisions.
Sustainability is the current hot topic in the fashion industry. More and more fashion brands are integrating sustainable materials and processes in response to end consumer demands. There are also signs of far-reaching changes on the part of the legislature in the coming years.
Labels and hang tags may only be a small detail, but they are important image carriers and an indispensable link within the global supply chain. They also contribute to the ecological balance of a product. But how can sustainable improvements be implemented with labels and hang tags? ITL Group, a global apparel label company with manufacturing facilities worldwide, has developed IntelliGen™, an award-winning, data and science-based tool that helps brands make better decisions.
Resizing for less material waste
The good news is that small changes are often enough to make a real difference. For example, the IntelliGen™ tool is used to check whether the label size is efficient in production and whether this format achieves the optimum utilization of the sheet size on a printing press or the fabric width on a loom. As with a cutting pattern, the tool calculates the “better” dimensions for the required label, adapted to the technology used in each case. In this way, material consumption can be reduced, waste minimized and ultimately costs saved – without having to compromise on quality and aesthetics.
Data-based sustainability evaluation according to the Higg Index
The ITL Group’s specific production know-how for labels and hang tags is combined in IntelliGen™ and linked to data from the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI). The tool can therefore also make a statement about how the labels can be sustainably improved beyond just size adjustment, for example by looking at the raw material or other production options. Woven labels can be further reworked to reduce weft density without compromising appearance. Costs saved by sizing or production adjustments can be reinvested in even more sustainable materials that may not have been budgeted before.
Global network of own production facilities
The ITL Group has a global network of own weaving mills and printers at the most important production locations worldwide, which are connected by the own supply chain application platform LabelVantage™. This ensures that even complex, multinational supply chains can be optimally supplied.
As a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the ITL Group is also committed to sustainability and transparency in its own supply chain and continuously invests in its further improvement. In the same way, IntelliGen™ is constantly being further developed and updated according to new scientific findings.
The aim is to make the topic of sustainability easier and more accessible for fashion companies in a few simple and comprehensible steps, and to contribute to establishing a better fashion industry.
For more information, see: Intelligen™ – Intelligent Label Solutions (itl-group.com)