Gerber’s New Technology Innovation Center

Author: Shoshana Burgett, Pink Elephant Productions

KETTY PILLET TALKS TO US ABOUT GERBER’S NEW TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CENTER

We caught up with Ketty Pillet, Vice President of Marketing for Gerber Technology, to discuss the opening of their Technology Innovation Center in Manhattan. Located at 601 26th Street, in New York City, this facility hosts schools, designers and brands through educational presentations and live demonstrations of their on-site micro factory. Clients and students can explore, learn and watch clothes printed, cut, sewn and assembled within their micro-factory that is the size of a studio apartment.

Check out the video here.

WHAT IS A MICRO-FACTORY

A micro-factory is a term used to define a modern factory that is capable of producing products within a small footprint. The advantage of such a consolidated size is startup costs and flexibility to locate the micro-factory in urban areas where manufacturing of scale typically is not existent.

Micro-factories require a highly automated and digitized process to funtion but enable employees to prototype, develop, and test markets quicker than legacy manufacturing that takes weeks or months to launch products. These types of factories also create what is termed ‘local to local’, where brands can design and produce for and within a local region, reducing shipping costs, and environmental footprint, while expanding their offerings and optimizing raw material usage.