Supply chain leaders are joining forces to scale and promote efficient and performance-driven technologies.
On Wednesday, YKK Corporation announced a partnership with color solutions provider Coloro to reduce trial and error in translating color from the design stage to physical materials. The companies introduced joint matching and feasibility results of Coloro colors in YKK’s zippers.
The results are available through Coloro Feasibility Intelligence (CFI), a proprietary feasibility platform that provides automated color health checks and optimizations for proven fiber and feasibility results. The platform also provides sustainability checks including alternative color processes, chemical compliance, and circularity data.
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The purpose of CFI is to bridge the gap between physical and digital workflows. Instead of selecting a color from a book of swatches and hoping for the best, CFI provides more than 2.5 million verified feasibility and sustainability data points based on physical dyeing and testing across multiple substrates. It has now been expanded to include YKK zipper matching data.
“By integrating YKK zippers into the CFI system, users are empowered to make reliable, data-backed color decisions at the design stage, reducing wasted time and costs on color matching and development in the supply chain,” said Detlev Pross, Coloro’s chief strategy officer.
Takayuki Kato, VP, global marketing group, YKK Corporation, said the partnership reflects the company’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and a more efficient and responsible industry.
“At YKK, we believe that color accuracy and feasibility are critical to enabling true digital transformation in the fashion supply chain,” Kato said. “By collaborating with Coloro and integrating our zipper color data into the Coloro Feasibility Intelligence platform, we are helping designers and brands make confident, data-driven color decisions from the earliest stages of design.”
Specialty chemicals firm Archroma and HeiQ, a Swiss materials innovator, are also banding together to promote functional textiles and sustainable fibers.
The companies have entered into a co-marketing agreement that combines their complementary strengths to deliver advanced anti-odor and antimicrobial technologies to brands, retailers and textile mills.
The collaboration enables HeiQ’s advanced technologies to be delivered through Archroma’s global customer network, making it easier for textile manufacturers to integrate functional, compliant, and sustainable performance effects into their products.
Archroma’s portfolio includes clean sulfur black dyes, nature-derived color solutions, and aniline-free indigo technologies. Last year, 10 of its product groups have achieved Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health Gold level under Version 4.0 of the standard. HeiQ’s textile innovations range from fabrics that dynamically respond to rising skin temperatures to advanced odor-control solutions.
“HeiQ has always been driven by a mission to pioneer deeptech material innovation for people and planet,” said Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ. “Together with Archroma’s extensive network and expertise, we are scaling our technologies globally, ensuring that brands and mills can access functional, sustainable solutions that enhance product performance while lowering environmental impact.”
The alliance is also about scaling innovation. Together, the companies aim to empower brands and manufacturers to meet consumer demands for hygiene, freshness, and sustainability.
“By uniting our global reach and application know-how with HeiQ’s powerful innovation engine, we are bringing high-performance, sustainable technologies to more customers and accelerating the industry’s transition towards a more planet-conscious textile value chain,” said Dhirendra Gautam, VP commercial, Archroma.
