Takisada-Nagoya opens lab in a Sotoh Factory

At the beginning of November, Womenswear Fabric Section 32 of Takisada-Nagoya launched the “TS Creative Lab” (tentative name) in a factory of Sotoh,
a major dyeing and processing company in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture.
The aim is to strengthen in-house manufacturing of womenswear fabrics and new development.
The plan is to use the lab as a base for launching the “tksyn” (trademark pending, pronounced “shin”) brand of fabric manufactured in-house,
as well as a place for business negotiations and creations with apparel customers.
The lab will work toward inheriting and accumulating the know-how of manufacturers located in production areas with aging populations,
develop human resources capable of creating original fabrics, and demonstrate our strengths in manufacturing.

The more you know, the harder it is

Section 32 has been working on in-house manufacturing since 2015,
and has been focusing on human resource development for design plans.
The year before that, Takashi Katsuragawa, who had moved from Sotoh to Takisada-Nagoya, was put in charge of production management.
He was welcomed by Takashi Ono, Head of the Womenswear Fabric Section 32 for Takisada-Nagoya,
who said, “I had been involved in factories before, but manufacturing is a world that becomes harder the more you know.
We could not do it alone.” Naoka Nogaki, who was transferred from another section,
and Tomoka Ban, who joined the company in 2019, will work on design plans.

Sales for our in-house manufacturing for the fiscal year ended January 2020 were between 400 to 500 million yen.
We have developed 300 fabric varieties thus far. We make our own designs,
including combed wool from Indian and Thai manufacturers and spun wool from Italian manufacturers and Australia.
We commission Sotoh to do most of the arrangement and processing. Manufacturing in Bishu area accounts for half of Section 32’s sales.
It is essential for the continuation of the production area to pass on the techniques and continue placing orders.
Although problems are inevitable with natural fibers,
if we can determine the cause of the problems on our own rather than leaving it to the factories, we can make improvements in the future.
In order to continue to provide original fabrics that meet the needs of our customers, we decided that a lab was necessary.

Not the same as before

The lab is a rented 66 square meter section in a corner of the Sotoh No. 1 Factory, where we have set up a space for business negotiations and work.
The lab has yarn to make samples for in-house manufacturing and two years’ worth of fabric samples.
Although it is a costly endeavor, Hiroyuki Taki, Director and Head of the Womenswear Fabric Division, says,
“We can’t keep doing the same thing as before. We need to put more effort into our manufacturing and communicate that.”

The brand name tksyn is pronounced “shin,” which has meanings including new, true, heart, soul, and progress in Japanese.
The logo is a design featuring the sawtooth roof of a fabric factory in Bishu area, and expresses our passion for manufacturing.
Section 32 will also strengthen its own communication through its website, YouTube, Instagram, and more.