By streamlining business critical information into a single digitised source, FastReactPlan will optimise data visibility across the yarn and knitting plan teams to increase production efficiencies and accelerate risk assessment and overall decision making

Founded in 1964, Thai Sock expanded rapidly from providing local yarn texture and yarn dyeing services to global sock production and has consistently invested in new technologies to become the largest vertically integrated sock manufacturer in Thailand. It is also one of the leading Asian sock suppliers to well-known global brands, including Nike, Paul Smith, Converse, M&S. Charles Tyrwhitt, Oakley and Bloch, among many others.  As well as socks, the company also manufactures headbands, wristbands and textured nylon and polyester yarns. Thai Sock is renowned for producing fine luxury socks as a result of its rare and has specialised knitting processes at its manufacturing facilities in Vietnam and China. The company also has large distribution centres in the UK and China.

Miss Alisara Vichaiwatanapanich, Deputy Managing Director, Thai Sock Co., said: “The main challenge we faced was with planning & visibility of capacity plans across our yarn and knitting teams.  With multiple disconnected spreadsheets, which were time consuming to create and complex to compare and assess, we lacked an accurate tracking process to affectively confirm yarn lots against sock production which meant a significant disconnect between higher and lower levels of production. By removing our reliance on cumbersome Excel spreadsheets, FastReactPlan will enable us to greatly increase the speed and accuracy of production planning, tracking and order confirmation processes so that we can assess and resolve problems quickly, make informed decisions effectively from the start and ensure we can capitalise on greater demand for smaller, more complex orders. We anticipate that the FastReactPlan roll out will secure a 200% return on investment quickly within the next year.”

Part of Coats Digital’s core Manufacturing Solution Suite, FastReactPlan is a dynamic, visual production planning and control tool that optimises delivery, efficiency and lead times. Designed and developed specifically for footwear and apparel manufacturing factories, FastReactPlan helps companies integrate capacity, critical path, and materials into a single, integrated, dynamic planning system.  The highly visual and flexible ‘drag and drop’ approach to planning allows effective master planning across multiple factories, as well as the detailed and accurate scheduling of manufacturing lines/ machines.