Fabdesigns, Inc.

What is Fabdesigns’ business model?

 Fabdesigns offers rare B2B consulting services, prototypes development, and post-development production of 2D and 3D footwear, technical fabrics, and textile components with nearly zero waste. Our clients are big brands, startups, the film industry, and others.  

Fabdesigns' 3D knit facility is a confidential design, development, technical education, and post-development production facility. We’re the sandbox. 

What services do you offer?  

 - Product Development - technical textile solutions. Bring your existing program or start a new project with us. 

 - Online training & Education workshops Advanced materials science & textile technology

 - Consulting - Advanced materials science & textile technology

 -  Public speaking in small groups and conferences; 1 on 1  and group textile workshops

 - In house post-development production utilizing M1+ Programming Stoll knitting machinery (many generations)

 - Interactive hands-on product development process & renderings 2D & 3D knitting 

 - Development  of 2D, 3D & 4D structures,  smart textile fabrications

 · Sustainability  Coaching- nearly zero waste - closing the loop

 · LEAN Process Consulting & factory layout guidance

 · Optimized production, supply chain, and product improvement guidance

 · Business / Product / Operations Planning Liaison with your internal teams and vendors

We hold your hand through the entire product development process, from analyzing your concept, discussing materials, to working with your manufacturing partner to optimize your production.  

Fabdesigns builds textile engineering projects for swatch tests, prototypes, prototype developments.

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Fabdesigns builds end-to-end product development road maps that translate and align each client's business/design briefs to coordinate with textile machinery capabilities, raw material availability and quality specifications, the precise nuances in textile and technology market trends, all while managing cost/value requirements, and ensuring client brand continuity.  

• We save clients the risk of committing hundreds of thousands of dollarsW, buying expensive equipment, and years of trial and error.
• We shorten the learning curve and approach R&D  for our clients with decades of in-depth expertise in materials, machinery, programming using our IP,  and knowledge of the electronic and mechanical capabilities while pushing the limitations of equipment and processes.
• We are your Incubator, your safe space to flesh out your ideas for improving your existing products or build your first to market prototypes with our cutting-edge technologies.
• We help you build the infrastructure for smart design, while thoroughly testing manufacturing strategies in strict confidence.
• We optimize production by fine-tuning hundreds of variables in a professional and educational setting where you can ask questions, learn, and hone your materials and R&D skills, which will help you control quality from the fiber up and lead the market.
• We support you in vetting supply chains, and dialing inaccurate production estimates, costs, on real production equipment.  

Fabdesigns is the only place in the world where you get to work hands-on right there with us on state-of-the-art Stoll knitting production equipment through every phase of your project.  You experience the entire process, which is tailored to your specific needs. 

Manufacturing in house keeps our IP and our clients' IP safely in house.  

What happens at Fab, stays at Fab. 

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What type of clients works with Fabdesigns?

Fabdesigns works with major brands, startups, Fortune 100's, designers, engineers, and inventors.

Can Fabdesigns make me a prototype?

Of course, we can.  Our deliverables are prototypes. And there is no obligation to manufacture with us. Just ask yourself, what good is a prototype if the focus is only making one?  We focus on what your manufacturing issues might be from the beginning, putting your goals first and optimizing prototypes to reflect some of the real production parameters of your manufacturing partners.  You save valuable time and money while making practical use of your company's resources.  You may have a short-term need to rapidly enter a market, with long-term goals of leading that market. Getting your first prototype on a budget is important, but getting an idea of what it takes to make a product is critical to the success of your product, costing, and ultimately, your business. Our eco techniques can save 25% or more time, over WYSIWYG off-the-shelf software from the machine builders.

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How does it work?

Clients usually request a Mutual NDA prior to discussions.  You show us your design brief, and we discuss various options and approaches. We scope the project with your Design Brief and put a proposed statement of work (SOW) in place, outlining the budget, scope, deliverables, timeline, and required resources.  The SOW scopes and customizes every project with a realistic time frame, budget, resources needed, and action items. We invoice deliverables based on that quote. And, all work is done in-house, with as many of your team here as you want/need for onsite Q&A, and on-the-spot decisions. Then we all get to the cool stuff, rapid developing in-house in typical Agile stages and gates system:

Phase 1) Breaking down the design into zones and experimenting with different materials and developing your combinations of knit structures with yarn types: you, the client, approve and test the suitability of all your materials and fabric. You may want to take these away with you, test them for washing, breathability, pilling – as many tests as you need for your product.  Deliverables are tangible swatches. 

Phase 2) First Prototype proof of concept is developed using your design brief, swatch tests you approved in Phase 1, and our IP in programming: you approve and test the suitability of all their prototypes and processes. Again, you all might want to take this away, fit test it, wear test it, and start working on your grade rules for other sizes.  Deliverables are tangible prototypes. 

Phase 3)  Refining the prototype for commercialization may include sizing to your grade rules, finalizing fit, making any final changes to the design, and then grading the sizes/configurations that you need.  You approve and finalize all your tangible parts and components ready for transfer to your production partner of choice who will interpret your prototypes based on their own capabilities, machinery types, and manufacturing abilities. Deliverables are tangible pre-production samples.  We do not provide our machine programs for outside production elsewhere. You are not obligated to produce with Fabdesigns.

Post-Development Production is a separate arrangement based on volume.  Some clients bring their own machine programs, and for others, we go through the development process.

As of 2022 we build the manufacturing platforms to produce products, components, and assemblies in-house.  We provide Phase One swatch testing,  and Phase Two prototyping, and will do the grading for Phase Three according to your specifications.

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What won't I find anywhere else?

Fabdesigns is a completely vertical and independent education, research, and development facility located in one of the most creative and vibrant places on the planet - Southern California.  Our founders each have over 30 years of experience in innovating, developing, and teaching advanced textile engineering, textile design, lean manufacturing, product development, extreme materials, 3D knitting, and technical knit textiles mastery.  Our experience spans many of the top brands in the world, for aerospace, footwear, automotive, medical device (ISO13485), fashion, couture, on-demand manufacturing, composites, wearable technology, prosthetics, co-molded components, solar, wind, extreme sports fabrications, hosiery, 3D knitted textiles, interactive textiles, smart and e-textiles.

There are no books for technical knitted textiles, though we have built our own proprietary techniques for development road maps that combine processes, materials science, business planning, and sustainability.  

We engineer extreme textile projects and teach our clients how to design and innovate, using knitting as additive manufacturing. Sharing knowledge is key for our clients in:

• Understanding yarn, materials, and properties of polymers.

• Understanding the mechanics of a flat knitting machine. 

• Understanding loop diagrams of various stitch structures and how they affect fabric performance

• What is 3D knitting and what is it not? 

• Introduction to how typical product development differs in building mindful textiles

• Understanding knitting variables by structures

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Clients are provided the tangible prototypes from Phases One and Two. Clients also have the option of working with us one on one to build the projects in-house and are charged for our time prototyping and gain and extra access to our expertise.  

Fabdesigns does not distribute master machine programs. Fabdesigns has adopted a similar policy as any other production facility.

Why? Over the years, providing programs to clients has created several problems. 

1. Not all factories have the same machinery, brands, models, and specs; 
2. Clients bring on new employees into the operations process, that were not included in the development process, and who have no idea what valuable information is in the files. Many lack knowledge of the technology and are more cavalier than they should be with what they are sending to vendors and have ended up distributing their own IP as well as ours, which is a major contributor to the knock-off concerns.  Preventing this has proved difficult if not impossible. Retrieving master files once that mistake is made is a time-consuming, disagreeable, and effectively worthless effort once many copies have been made by vendors overseas.
3. Fabdesigns spends an extraordinary amount of time teaching sweater factories and clients how to operate machinery and maintain quality control for these technical projects, most times uncompensated. Time spent has outpaced the actual revenue from development, so why not make this in-house and serve our clients better?
4. After years of trying to use existing sweater factories for client production, and train clients to shorten their learning curve by holding their hands for upwards of two years to produce their own technical textiles, Fabdesigns has found that the business model and mindset of 3rd-party apparel factories does not suit these technical projects that require the maintaining of specific machine parameters, and attention to detail that does not exist in apparel nor is necessary.  This has been very frustrating for our clients, who have very special ideas and prototypes and no factory can make it with their existing knowledge and basic apparel capabilities, nor do these apparel factories seem to want to adopt higher quality standards, calibrate the machinery, and change to precision production parameters that are not in their apparel comfort zones. 

Fabdesigns helps clients onshore their production of technical projects and develop new projects in-house.  Making in-house confidentially and securely helps prevent knock-offs and the loss of our IP and yours. Your and our valid concerns of IP theft, which have continued to occur overseas, regardless of contracts in place and coaching to prevent that exact problem, are put to rest.

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What makes Fabdesigns different from the machine builders?

Machine builders focus on selling machines.  Our focus is  100% supporting our clients, tailoring an approach for helping them succeed that is as unique as they are.   Fabdesigns'  approaches projects with mastery, the strength of expertise in business strategy, and a deep knowledge pool that spans not only textiles but generations of mechanical knitting machines, circular knitting machinery to a state-of-the-art ADF, but also many soft-goods and hybrid hard-goods after processes such as lamination, embroidery, compression, and injection molding, co-molding, embossing, dye, warp-knitting, printing, weaving, non-woven, printing, surface texturing, sewing, finishing, hardware,  composites, electronics, and other equipment.

We also have a background in technical textile science, polymers, yarns, structures, and after processes.  Fabdesigns doesn't use WYSIWYG off-the-shelf inefficient programming as is sold and taught from Shenzhen to Munich by the machine builder.  Why?  Because, if everyone has the same tools, the lowest price, not quality or sustainability, wins the order, when everything is the same.   

We also don't make you feel like you're a cookie-cutter, like the next client or at a used car lot, pressuring you to buy equipment.  We are completely independent and our ENTIRE business is developing and producing 2D and 3D technical textiles to save as much time, material, and resources for our clients as possible.  We've spent thousands of hours building our techniques and trades secrets to optimize production.  Currently, our programming approach may save 25% to 50% over WYSIWYG, which saves you time, money, and increases production capacity, while reducing your carbon footprint.

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Do clients need to provide their own yarns?  Our clients typically get their own materials to ensure the specification, quality, and freshness of materials..  Prototyping might be started with some clients using what we have in house if that works.  If not, we let clients deal directly with yarn manufacturers.  We sometimes can recommend yarn types based on the design and zones that might require combinations of materials. 

   
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What are the minimum quantities for manufacturing with Fabdesigns?  We do not have minimum quantities like a cut and sew factory and are ok with small batches.  That being said, sometimes, it takes over an hour to set up a machine and switch it over for a production run.  Based on how long pieces take to knit, clients would want to make at least several dozen pieces per size/configuration at a time to make it cost manageable.

 
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What is your estimated date of when you can slot a client into post-development production?  We are running production for clients now and shipping to their various facilities for any assembly, labeling, or after processes.  

 
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At your studio facility do you have the capabilities to sew as well?

Because technical textiles are not similar to apparel that use predictable sewing equipment, Fabdesigns does not provide assembly. Fabdesigns provides only the knitting of components, parts,  assemblies, and products that are finished by the machine – like socks.  However, we do work with several local facilities who  have differing equipment based on what the product is.

 
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Confidentiality?

This is completely your project and no other client is in our building while you are here. Your work goes with you and any notes or leftovers you leave are completely out of site and secure.  No one sees anything until you want. You own your product and tangible prototypes. You are in control of the suitability of your materials and product for your own testing, performance, and quality purposes, not us.  We don't change your minds.  We build what you want.

 
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What are your rates?

We have very reasonable professional rates for Product Development and are sensitive to the fact that fees need to depend on the time and services required.  There is no one size fits all fee, just like there is no one size fits all product.  Some projects require a lot more time or intricate delivery of materials. We provide you with a breakdown of everything in your written quote. We don't charge for the initial conversation. We also don't publish our rates online, but would be more than happy to discuss them with you over the phone, skype, or via email, so we can fine-tune to what you actually need and send you the correct information.

Costs of development will vary based on:

· If a client has its' own machinery and location

· Has yarns ready to go

· Has its own stitches chosen ready to go

· A detailed design brief

· Number of revisions

· How organized the client is

· The level of knowledge at the client’s chosen manufacturing partner. It's up to the clients to vet any factories for their own supply chain purposes.  Everything is spelled out in advance in a mutually agreed SOW in advance,  a Consulting agreement to get started, and a manufacturing agreement for post-development production, so that everyone is on the same page for budget and direction.  No surprises.

 
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IP?

Our clients own their products and their IP 100%.  We own our IP 100%

 
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Does Fabdesigns do production?

Fabdesigns does post-development production whether you work with us or bring us your own MDV files that you've created yourself or elsewhere. Your products, components, and assemblies are shipped to your manufacturing facilities around the world for any after processes. If you are manufacturing elsewhere, we can provide you with the tangible prototype information from our development together for you to transfer to your manufacturing partner(s). Call us with questions.

More Questions?  Contact us :) info@fabdesigns.com