PI Apparel 2018 | Speakers

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abinash-sahoo-350b2a25/

Focus Group - Driving the Uniformity of Material Measurements for Accurate Virtual Simulation

Alex Thomas is the Vice President of Manufacturing Excellence and Technical Services at VF. He has spent his professional life between Europe and Asia working with various brands and retailers. In the 1990's, Alex was based in Switzerland, India, Denmark and London working with various European fashion brands. In 2002, Alex moved to China to work with K-Swiss where he led the company's portfolio of brands in China and SE Asia in many functions from Design and Development through to Operations, Production and Quality over a 10 year period. In 2012, Alex joined VF Asia in Hong Kong, where he is currently based leading the Engineering teams and VF's 3rd Way program.

Focus Group - Can a 3D Investment Mean More than Just a Pretty Picture?

Alexis Kantor is Target’s VP of Owned Brand Technical Development and Quality.
She leads multiple teams around the globe, focused on technical design, raw material development, and product quality assurance.

Through collaboration with cross functional teams across the enterprise and continuous innovations in technology, raw material development, body size studies, and construction standards, these teams focus on ensuring quality, fit, function, safety and value for the guest.

Prior to joining Target, Alexis worked for Victoria’s Secret in all aspects of product development including working overseas in Israel for VS/Mast. Alexis graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Women’s Studies.

As a leader of people, Alexis strives to maintain an environment where challenge is expected and risk is rewarded, where personal and professional achievements are celebrated, and where a balance between professional and personal growth is possible and encouraged.

In addition to responsibilities related to her title, Alexis is involved with multiple business councils at Target. She acts as an advocate for The African American, The Hispanic, and The Women’s Business Council(s), and is a sponsor for the Pride+ Business Council.

Alexis is very active with various local community organizations. She is on the Board of Directors for Family Equality Council and is very actively involved with Avenues for Youth, a local non-profit with national recognition. Her family has been participating as a Host home for LGBT homeless youth for multiple years.

A New Age of Collaboration: Enhanced by Digital Technology

Anderson Lee is a frequent speaker on apparel and sustainable forums. He is Chairman of the Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium (SFBC); a board member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) in the U.S. since 2013 and be re-elected for another term; a Director of Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (HKIAIA); a convenor in the Fashion Industry Development Committee (FIDC) of the HKSAR. Lee has been a voting member of the Outdoor Industry Association Sustainability Working Group in the U.S. since 2008 in the creation and piloting of the Eco Index. In Hong Kong, Lee steers a number of government-funded projects to foster coherence among innovators and contributors in Hong Kong and China in alignment with the 12th through the 13th Five Year Plan. This includes building a guidebook for SMEs to achieve triple-bottom-line through the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Low Carbon Manufacturing Programme (LCMP) to provide effective carbon emission disclosure and reduction. Lee actively promotes awareness among the industry through addressing Greenpeace’s ‘Dirty Laundry’ report, among investors as a panel speaker at the 2°C+ Water organized by China Water Risk and the BIP Forum in 2016 showcasing the success of latest homegrown and collaborated  textile technologies  and helping to groom a Circular Economy. Lee has been invited as one of the judges for the EcoChic Design Award in Hong Kong since 2012 to 2017, a judge for the Bank of China Corporate Environmental Leadership Awards for 2016 and 2017 and a judge for the World Fashion Design Competition for 2016 and 2017. The goal is to bring awareness through leading practice sharing in Hong Kong and China.

Panel Discussion - The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Technology for Success

Andy Wong joined G2000 (Apparel) Limited in 2016 as the Group CIO and in this capacity, is responsible for the Group’s overall Digital and Information Technology strategy and development, as well as it’s complete IT function. Andy has more than 26 years of IT and electronic commerce experience with specific industry exposure to the retail, manufacturing, internet, airline and financial sectors. Prior to joining G2000, Andy was appointed as Group Head of IT for Trinity Limited, and as the CIO of the Greater China and Asia Pacific regions with Chanel in 2012. Andy was recently appointed as Chairman of the HK Retail Technology Industry Association Advisory Board.

The Power of Digital in Redefining the Fashion Supply Chain

A graduate of the Diocesan Girls' School, Angie began her career with a 17-year spell at the Shun Hing Group. She was eventually promoted to Managing Director of TDI, Transportation Displays Int'l Ltd., the exclusive advertising concessionaire for many of the territories’ major outdoor advertising contracts, including Kai Tak International Airport and Kowloon-Canton Railway. She subsequently joined Commercial Radio, the trendsetter of local audio broadcast, where she contributed as General Manager. In 2005, Angie answered the family calling and joined the Clover Group as CEO. Since then, Angie has been voted by Forbes Asia as one of Asia’s Power Business Women 2014 and was elected as the Chairwoman of The Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries' Association Ltd.

Panel Discussion - What is Academia Doing to Overcome the Digital Skill Deficit and What Can Industry be Doing to Support Them?

As a Director of Innovation at DECKERS Brands, Chris Hillyer contributes to the evolution of the product development process as well as leading other innovation projects. Chris got his start designing climbing equipment but quickly fell in love with the dynamic pace of footwear design as well as the wide array of materials and processes available. His passion for innovation has allowed him to participate in the design of shoes for Olympic athletes, Mountain Bikers and even a penguin. With the exciting new tools available to designers, developers and throughout the supply chain, Chris has become focused on re-envisioning the entire product creation process.

The Material Exchange - Advancing the Management and Accuracy of Virtual Materials in One Central, Vendor-fed Industry-Wide Library

Chris has worked in Gap Inc. for 9 years in a variety of roles; today he acts as Sr. Director, Strategic Sourcing and Product Innovation. In this capacity, Chris supports and leads development of long-term vision, strategies, and operational plans related to product capabilities and technical innovation for Gap Inc. Chris also supports the company in the areas of trade policy, supply chain configuration, material strategy, quality strategy, and innovation ecosystem development.

Panel Discussion - The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Technology for Success

The Material Exchange - Advancing the Management and Accuracy of Virtual Materials in One Central, Vendor-fed Industry-Wide Library

The Path to the Future of Fashion through 3D Technology

Eddie Chan is the CEO of Lever Style Inc. He originally joined Lever Style in 1988 as Marketing Manager, taking up increasingly senior roles over 15 years until he left the company in 2003. He then rejoined Lever Style as president & COO in 2015.

In between his two stints at Lever Style, Eddie worked at vertically-integrated textile & garment manufacturer Esquel Group, where he held senior executive positions in a variety of areas including sales, production, technical development, and operational excellence. His last role was Group Director of Operational Excellence, reporting to Esquel’s Vice- Chairman & CEO. Before Esquel and Lever, Eddie started his career by serving short stints at TAL, Laws Group, and Mast Industries Ltd.

Focus Group - Introducing RFID to Improve Sample & Digital Asset Management

Mr Edwin Keh is the CEO of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel. He also teaches supply chain operations in the Operations, Information and Decisions Department of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Until April 2010 Edwin was the SVP COO of Wal-Mart Global Procurement. Prior to Wal-Mart Edwin managed a consulting group that has done work for companies on supply chain, manufacturing, and product design. The practice also did work for non-profit organizations and charities. Edwin co-founded the Consortium for Operational Excellence in Greater China (COER GC) sponsored by the Wharton School and Tsinghua University.

Edwin had a career as senior executive with several international consumer goods and retail companies. He also worked for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Edwin is on the advisory board of multiple social enterprises, research organizations, and NGOs and served on the Board of Whittier College, CA and the Expert Panel of H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award.

Edwin was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2020 by the HKSAR Government for his research work during the pandemic. He was named “Asia’s Most Influential” 2022 by Tatler, the best of Top 50 Innovative Retail Leaders by Inside Retail Hong Kong in 2019 and is on the Debrett’s Hong Kong 100 as one of the most influential people in Technology and Digital sector. Edwin is a recipient of the Production and Operations Management Society’s Excellence in Production and Operations Management Practice Award. Edwin holds over 30 IPs and most have won global invention awards.

PI Keynote - Trust and Leadership as a Foundation of True Success in Achieving End-to-End Fashion Industry 4.0

Erika Nitsch is the Data Science Lead at Metail, the revolutionary body shape and garment digitisation company. Her team's mission is to use retailers' and Metail's rich data assets to help deliver the best possible online shopping experience and uncover new efficiencies. She believes data science is the future of shopping: through Artificial Intelligence-led personalisation, deep learning-based computer vision, and rigorous experimental validation of game-changing ideas. Before turning her hand to solving the world's complex e-commerce problems, Erika was a research scientist based at the University of Oxford (DPhil 2012), where she used mass spectrometry analysis of ancient food to study a range of problems, from origins of the first cities, the collapse of the Roman Empire, to the Industrial Revolution.

Think Tank - Fear & Loving in the World of AI

Think Tank - Fear & Loving in the World of AI

Guy Alroy is Head of Products, managing the innovation and definition of EFI Optitex's product solutions, including its 3D and cloud platform. With a BSC in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on 3D and robotics, he joined EFI Optitex after leading several product and customer success teams in both BI and PLM enterprises, including Microsoft (MSFT) and Dassault Systèmes (DS). A founder of two startups, he also brings experience of delivering products from vision to development.

Panel Discussion - Standardizing Digital Platforms to Overcome Issues of Systems Interoperability and Data Transfer

After completing a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, Hamish founded ShapeShifter Technology Ltd; an award-winning software company that specializes in reducing fabric consumption for apparel manufacturers. ShapeShifter has provided software and solutions to 1000s of manufacturers around the world. As a keen sportsman, Hamish is also a scratch handicap golfer and a National Touch Football representative.

Think Tank - Too Little, Too Much, Just Right: Navigating the Fine Art of Fabric Purchasing

Henrik is the Head of IT for Global Production at H&M, one of the world’s leading fashion companies. He is responsible for driving the Global Production business unit’s IT and digitalization agenda. Henrik joined H&M in 2005 and has since held many different positions, such as Head of IT North America and Head of IT for New Business. His 20+ years of experience in IT also includes several years’ experience from management and IT consulting in different positions.

Focus Group - Leadership, Agility, Results: The Realities of Digital Transformation

From a young age, Hilmond has been immersed in the world of garment manufacturing through the teachings of his father. He would listen to his father speak about various details that go into a garment, both directly and indirectly. In Hilmond’s mind, things like quality and construction have always gone hand in hand with social responsibility and sustainability to create a garment. It’s upon this foundation that Hilmond has built a passion towards the fashion industry, not simply manufacturing, but from raw materials, all the way to the end customer. It is Hilmond’s goal to bring a millenial element of surprise to his company, in order to revitalise and rebirth the entire supply chain, by way of rethinking and reworking the raison d’être in garment manufacturing. Currently, Hilmond works closely with numerous departments including raw material development and sourcing, product and development, merchandising, corporate social responsibility and sustainability, production, and marketing. It is Hilmond’s hope to influence belief in a new way of thinking in a still traditional fashion industry.

Panel Discussion - The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Technology for Success

Ian is the Convener and Director of the Agile Blockchain Consortium, a non-profit organization in Hong Kong. His other commitments include his roles as CEO of Digital Transaction Limited, Managing Partner for InnoTech Venture Limited and Chairman of Co-operatives of Innovative Intellectuals. His current interests include investment in breakthrough/disruptive innovations, promotion of inclusion and innovation management, and visioning the future of business trends and landscapes.

Revolutionizing the Fashion Supply Chain with Blockchain Technology

Jo Anne heads the Global Quality Assurance Team for Under Armour Performance Brand based in Hong Kong and is responsible for production and post production quality for Footwear, Apparel & Accessories production. She has 25 years in building and sustaining Quality Assurance & Manufacturing Excellence Platforms for Apparel, Footwear and Accessories for major sportswear and lifestyle companies including Under Armour, Limited Brands, Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch. Her leadership creates successful interfacing roles in Product Development, Manufacturing Operations, and Post Production/End Consumer Teams. Jo Anne is currently in her 25th year working for major brands and has a proven track record of delivering results for some of the most innovative companies in the world.

Having Discipline to Go Slow, Having the Right Partner to Go “Lightning” Fast

Julian Mussi is VP, Business Solutions for Discover e-Solutions Ltd. (DeSL), a global company delivering integrated web-based solutions for the Fashion, Apparel, Textile and Footwear sectors. Based out of DeSL’s San Francisco Bay Area office, Julian is product manager for DeSL’s range of color solutions as well as responsible for general business development. He has had the pleasure of working closely with leading organizations such as Target, Kohl's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's, Nike, Pixar, Under Armour and Gap on software adoption and business process improvements.

Don’t Let Color Become an Inhibitor to Innovation: A Global View of your Color Technology Footprint

Since 2011, Justin has led the Federation to establish a pattern design studio to assist Taiwanese apparel industry in exploring and training young talents to be professional pattern makers. During the same time, he also initiated an apparel workshop to guide and help young designers and small fashion brands produce stylish apparel, particularly for small quantity production. In 2016, the Federation built up a design studio of whole garment by the way of collaborating with Shimaseki. In 2017, the Federation established a clothing technology lab in order to help the sportswear and outdoor wear fabric mills and garment manufacturers improve their manufacturing technology.

Focus Group - How Can and Should Technology Be Adapted to Meet Increasingly Complex Manufacturing?

Keith Wong has nearly 10 years of experience working within the intimate apparel industry. He is currently working on Top Form International's sustainability development across China, Thailand and Cambodia and prepared Top Form’s first Sustainability Report in 2017. Keith is on one of the Executive Committees in the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (HKIAIA) and graduated from New York University.

Panel Discussion - The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Technology for Success

Leveraging Digitalization to Enhance Design Collaboration and Product Development Visibility

Lynne M. Sprugel is Vice President and Managing Director, International Sourcing Operations for Academy International Limited, a subsidiary of Academy Sports and Outdoors, a US Sporting Goods and Outdoor Lifestyle Retailer based in Katy (Houston), Texas. Lynne moved to Hong Kong in January 2014 to establish the Hong Kong Sourcing Hub office for Asia expansion. Prior to January 2014, Lynne was Vice President of Global Sourcing at Academy, Ltd., based in Katy, TX, where she was responsible for the Global Sourcing function including Brand Management, Product Development, Raw Materials Sourcing, Technical Design, Global Production, Sourcing, Global Sourcing Technology &Quality Assurance (including QA Testing Center, Assembly Center, and Asia QA Inspection Team).

Why Investing in Technology Across the Supply Chain Has to Replace the Sourcing Caravan

Manasij Ganguli is the Founder CEO of ThreadSol. ThreadSol is a garment technology firm focussed on creating innovative solutions for the apparel industry powered by Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Mobility.
Leading a team of 150 with offices in 7 locations, Manasij works as the Chief Everything Officer heading the business development by the day and doubling as a coder by the night. As a tech evangelist, Manasij has led to the development of artificial intelligence & big data enabled products that are transforming the apparel industry.

He has 15 years of experience writing code for multinationals like Boeing and Visa in UK and US.. Manasij is an avid blogger and an enthusiastic cyclist. Prior to ThreadSol, Manasij was the early member of a valley based startup - Terracotta which had a 90 Million dollar exit in 2012.

Panel Discussion - Standardizing Digital Platforms to Overcome Issues of Systems Interoperability and Data Transfer

Nelly is the Business Development & Operations Executive for Pepkor Product Solutions. After 20 years of experience in retail or hypermarket business as Buying & Merchandise Director (CARREFOUR, Jennyfer, MIM,…), she decided to join the Pepkor Group in Shanghai. Nelly and her team provide all supports to the retailers in the Pepkor Group to improve the quality and consistency of the products with some new service tike the 3D.

Achieving One Standardized 3D Platform & Practice across 12 Differing Brands and their Unique Products, Quality Grades and Geographies

Nicoline van Enter is the CEO of The Footwearists. Nicoline's background is in forecasting, journalism and engineering and over the last 25 years, she has consulted with leading footwear brands around the world including Timberland, Vans, Birkenstock, CAT and Diesel - as well as machine manufacturers like Atom and material suppliers like Stahl. Over the years, Nicoline has become an expert in applying new digital and biological technologies to footwear.

Panel Discussion - What is Academia Doing to Overcome the Digital Skill Deficit and What Can Industry be Doing to Support Them?

Nigel Lugg is Group Chairman of Prominent Europe specialising in fashion apparel supply. Prominent serves a broad client base offering men's shirts and suits, womenswear and casualwear to retailers across Europe; it has offices in Barcelona, Paris and Milan as well as London and Nottingham. It also owns the Chester Barrie brand and holds the menswear license for Richard James Mayfair. Prominent has a significant business manufacturing shirts, hosiery and intimates for Marks and Spencer. It acquired the Quantum Clothing Group in 2012 before restructuring it and merging it into Prominent Europe.

Digitization - A Practical Guide to Survival in a Game Changing Supply Chain

Pat is the Founder and Director of The Purpose Business (TPB) based in Hong Kong. A network of over 25 sustainability experts and enthusiasts, TPB is committed to making Asian businesses a force for responsible growth. Since it opened its doors to business in March 2015, TPB has been humbled to work with the region's strongest brands including MTR Corporation, Swire Properties, Gammon Construction, Trinity and Li&Fung, Huawei, Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels , Universal Robina Corporation, First Pacific and Metro Pacific Investments Company, Vitasoy, AES Vietnam and many more.

Panel Discussion - The Convergence of Sustainability, Innovation & Technology for Success

As a an Industrial Engineer with 30 years’ experience in apparel, cosmetic and retail organizations, Paul has had the opportunity to work through the supply chain from design to delivery. This has taken him from shopfloor work-study roles to PLM system implementations, training Engineers for Productivity Improvement programmes, and setting up and running Manufacturing Excellence projects. His real passion is in developing and realizing systems and processes that enable greater speed and productivity, supporting factories globally with implementing best practice manufacturing processes and physical layouts, including for the world’s first green and lean factory in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining Target Sourcing Services as Regional Director for Manufacturing Excellence, Paul led Manufacturing Excellence and QA Teams for Apparel, Accessories, Shoes, Jewellery and Soft Home for Walmart Global Sourcing.

Focus Group - How Do You Engage Vendor Networks to Drive Supply Chain Disruption?

Pete Santora joined SoftWear Automation in 2015 during the Research and Development phase. Today he helps support customers globally in home good manufacturing and has begun the commercialization of the SEWBOT® apparel automation, starting with the Digital T-Shirt Workline. Pete brings 10 years experience in growing high tech teams and commercializing IP. He was an Entrepreneur in Residence and research faculty member at the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech, a Forbes "Top 10 Technology Incubator", where he mentored startup CEOs including SoftWear Automation. He is a former professional soccer player and serial entrepreneur.

Panel Discussion - Standardizing Digital Platforms to Overcome Issues of Systems Interoperability and Data Transfer

Mr. Cheng Lap Yin (郑立言), is the cofounder and Chairman of Hanbo group. He is responsible for the strategic planning andoverall management of the Company’s business development.Mr. Cheng has almost 30 years of experience in the apparel industry. Mr. Cheng had worked in renowned garment trading companies and sourcing offices before establishing Hanbo. In 1991, he established Hanbo Enterprises Limited with two partners. He has been responsible forthe company’sbusiness development and marketing and successfully led the group to list on the mainboard of the Hong Kong Exchange in July 2014. Currently he is leading the transformation of Hanbo to a data-centric supply chain management company.

Revolutionizing the Fashion Supply Chain with Blockchain Technology

Richard has been resident in HK for the last 30 years and has worked in all areas of the fashion industry, including founding and operating a number of brands and retail businesses as well as co-founding Asia's leading international fashion trade show in HK and Shanghai before exiting. In recent years he has been focused on developing new approaches to design, product development, manufacturing, sales, distribution, and marketing including launching Brand New Vision Ltd. An entirely new business model for the industry. 

PI Apparel Hong Kong Welcome Address

Robert has always been actively involved in academia through out his career; having written and developed a MA program in Fashion Management, lecturing for the past 8 years and undertaken the first stages of his Ph.D in Luxury Management and communications with the Swedish University of Borås. Prior to moving to Hong Kong he was based in Dubai and had established a successful creative marketing agency in with key clients in Singapore, USA, Europe and the Middle East. Offering services from concept, brand and strategy development through to creative direction and production on campaigns for TV, print and digital.

Panel Discussion - What is Academia Doing to Overcome the Digital Skill Deficit and What Can Industry be Doing to Support Them?

Robert Sinclair is President of LF Sourcing overseeing all business related activities for apparel, footwear, hard-goods and general merchandise of a combined FOB value of US$5B. Robert joined LF Sourcing in August of 2011 as the Executive Vice President of the Lifestyle Brands business unit and was promoted to COO of LF Sourcing in 2013, before being promoted to his current position.

PI Keynote - Creating The Future of Supply Chain

Ronnie leads Target’s Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Hong Kong which includes Manufacturing Excellence, Raw Materials Assurance and Workforce Management teams, among others. Ronnie has worked in the apparel supply chain in Asia for nearly 20 years, leading field teams in Social Responsibility, Quality and Product Safety. He has also lead programs to reduce waste in the supply chain through vendor accreditations and certification. He has lead global teams to build product standards & testing for all global markets, including China market compliance.

Focus Group - How Do You Engage Vendor Networks to Drive Supply Chain Disruption?

Sandy is the Director of Apparel Innovation and 3D Digital Transformation at Target. Her role in Product Design and Development focuses on the application of 3D software and other emerging technologies to drive apparel development forward. She has over 20 years of experience leading apparel teams in technical design, product development, and sourcing. She is one of the founders of the 3D.RC, (3D Retail Coalition) a collaborative, industry wide group focused on providing direction, resources and networking opportunities to members to unlock and accelerate the value of 3D transformation.

A New Age of Collaboration: Enhanced by Digital Technology

Having started her career in positions managing CAD-CAM departments Sandra realized the transfer from manual into digital pattern drawing in the fashion industry for several brands. Sandra left the industry in 2005 to teach CAD pattern drawing at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) -Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI).

Since 1990 Sandra has worked with Lectra, Assyst, Gerber and CLO3D software, and began researching 3D virtual prototyping in 2007. At AMFI Sandra teaches since 2009 3D virtual garment creation and since 2016 textile measurement required to create digital textiles, as well as the verification between physical | digital textiles. Next to her teaching, Sandra is doing a PhD research into novel methods of linking physical | digital textiles at the AUAS Fashion Research and Technology group and the University of Amsterdam.

Sandra holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Manchester, where she researched the correlation between physical and virtual fabric drape created from objective fabric properties, also including: fabric measurement; the correlation between fabric properties and drape; the perception of fabric drape. Sandra has published work based on her studies, as well as on virtual tailoring and has presented in various events on these topics.

Sandra is interested in accurate virtual fitting, comprehendible and scalable physical to digital materials, accuracy of the simulated replica, and in training students to prepare them for future positions.

Focus Group - Driving the Uniformity of Material Measurements for Accurate Virtual Simulation

Sarah Chessis is the Founder and CEO of Isabella Wren.  She is a former finance sales specialist turned fashion maven and exceptional entrepreneur who is the driving force behind Isabella Wren.  After spending time with Mondial-d getting into the fashion trade, Sarah broke out on her own in 2013 and has since built Isabella Wren into a well respected high end women’s custom clothing brand.  It was Sarah who had the vision to combine the latest digital technology with beautiful clothing design to make Isabella Wren what it is today.  Her inspirations are behind all the Company’s designs and it is her determination to find the solution to fit that has pushed the Company to leverage 3D technology and smart pattern systems to produce wonderful clothes for professional women.  Her previous working experience in the world of finance included time spent at highly respected institutions such as Religare, BNP Paribas, E*TRADE Financial, Societe General and ING Barings.

Panel Discussion - How Should You Get Started in Automation & AI When the Investments are So Costly?

Shiru Zhang is the Procurement Engineering Manager within the Business Development & Operations Department of Pepkor Group. In this role, he bridges suppliers, sourcing and retail to assist the realisation of their 3D project from a procurement engineering perspective. Shiru originally joined Pepstores, the biggest apparel retailer in Africa and within the Pepkor Group. After two solid years of retail experience, he was appointed to Supply Chain Project Manager in Hong Kong to set up the sourcing supply chain to truly apply and meet retail’s needs at the port of origin.

Achieving One Standardized 3D Platform & Practice across 12 Differing Brands and their Unique Products, Quality Grades and Geographies

With over 20 years of experience in the supply chain industry, Stéphane clearly understands the challenges involved in end-to-end manufacturing. The idea of developing Pivot88 came out of his own experience in the supply chain, and in particular on remote quality management and supply chain optimization. During his career, Stéphane held several executive positions at various companies including Toyota Industrial Group of Company, Deloitte Consulting and Ryder Logistics, and spent over 14 years working in China within Quality Management processes. Today with Pivot88 his focus is on helping companies overcome quality management challenges through the use of emergent technologies providing visibility into the most vulnerable and riskiest parts of the supply chain – within suppliers. Stéphane holds an MBA from UQAM University and is a certified professional logistician from the Canadian Logistics Institute.

Having Discipline to Go Slow, Having the Right Partner to Go “Lightning” Fast

Stuart has played a leadership role for over a decade supporting
global retailers, brands, sourcing businesses, and fashion
manufacturers to achieve their strategic goals and
sustainability/CSR responsibility targets.
Prior to working in the Fashion Tech Industry, Stuart studied Law
in the UK, before joining the Precision Engineering Industry, in
2005, at Gerhardt International as its Director of Sales, where he
led the delivery of the commercial and operational strategies in
Europe, Asia and the USA.

Stuart’s responsibilities have included: business and process re-engineering; scoping, designing and
digital solutions selection; change management programmes; business case and ROI planning; and
the delivery of real operational and financial benefit to the companies he advises.
Stuart joined Fast React Systems in 2012, as its Head of Business Development, where he focused on
supporting brands and retailers with Product Lifecycle Management technologies. He continued to
play an instrumental role when the company was acquired by Coats Digital in 2017, and now heads
up Coats Digital’s commercial sales operation for brands.
Stuart’s primary goal is to enhance digital collaboration between key stakeholders in the end-to end
lifecycle of garment design, development and manufacture – delivering against consumer
expectations, whilst driving a more sustainable future for fashion.
His passion to ‘Future Proof’ the Fashion Industry through the use of smart, innovative, connected
cloud-based technologies - underpinned by a drive for more end- to-end technology collaboration -
has consequently positioned him as a respected ambassador within the ‘Digital Transformation’ community.

Digitization - A Practical Guide to Survival in a Game Changing Supply Chain

Tom is the CEO and Founder of Metail, the revolutionary body shape and garment fit visualisation company. An Economics graduate from Cambridge, Tom's career has spanned all forms of new media, from Sportal to 3 and most recently as Head of Gaming at Inspired Gaming Group. Tom has also founded the Cambridge technology start-up recruitment fair Silicon Milkround Cambridge, has been an active member of the UK government's DCMS Think Tank on the Convergence of Media (2009), a Demos working group on technology legislation and is the inspiration behind the launch of the government’s Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). Tom is also a patron for the creative industries incubator MeWe360 and a Non-Executive Director of emerging personal wellness technology startup Chiaro.

Panel Discussion - Standardizing Digital Platforms to Overcome Issues of Systems Interoperability and Data Transfer

Dr Mok is  Associate Professor, Fashion & Textile Technology - Clothing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her current research interests are in the areas of fashion pattern engineering, fashion 2D and 3D CAD, digital human modelling, 3D scanning and sizing, cloth simulation, deep learning, computer generated textile, sketch and pattern designs, computer vision and computer graphics in fashion applications, advanced data analysis and artificial intelligent applications in the fashion industry.

Leveraging Digitalization to Enhance Design Collaboration and Product Development Visibility

Until his recent retirement, Veit Geise acted as Vice President Product Supply for VF Asia Ltd. In this capacity, Veit was responsible for the Sourcing Divisions of Jeanswear, Sportswear and Workwear, comprising of brands including Lee, Wrangler, Nautica, Napapijri, Rock & Republic and Timberland. Before joining VF Corporation in 2007, Veit worked for the German Mail Order Company, Otto Group.

Focus Group - How Can Industry Get Vendors to Take CSR Compliance More Seriously?

How Tristate Made 1.3% Extra Revenue with Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and IoT Mobility Technology

Mr. Xinhong Tang is the President of Suzhou Industrial Park Tianyuan Garments Co., Ltd., an enterprise that sits within the top 50 companies in China for textiles and apparel. Mr. Tang has devoted himself to garment manufacturing for 40 years and focuses on learning, reference and innovation. Under his leadership, the enterprise has won more than 20 national patents. Moreover, Mr. Tang invented E lines, bridge application in hanger lines and AGV application in garment production processes. He actively drives PPA applications in garment production processes, which optimizes traditional garment production processes.

Automation & Robotics to Herald Immense Changes in How the Apparel Industry Operates

Passion for materials? Check. Design product development? Check. Visualization production for 15 years? Double check. Yazan Malkosh currently leads the team at swatchbook in creating a cloud platform meant to revolutionize the exploration, visualization and sharing of materials. His previous experience includes architecting product design tools for some of the worlds largest design brands in apparel, footwear and the automotive industries.

Panel Discussion - Standardizing Digital Platforms to Overcome Issues of Systems Interoperability and Data Transfer

Yong Duan (David), graduated from Tongji University with a Master’s Degree. After graduation, Yong worked for the China
Telecom Institute for over 10 years, leading a research and development department. In March 2017, he joined TY Garments USA, LLC as Project Manager. Yong has been recognized as a strong leader who is proactive, open minded and responsible through his daily interaction and project
management.  

Automation & Robotics to Herald Immense Changes in How the Apparel Industry Operates