Colour slows teams down.
Emails bounce.
Swatches fly across oceans.
Someone says “almost”, and the whole calendar slips.
We wanted a faster road.
So we teamed up: Coats × DMIx.
Table of Contents
What this partnership does (kid-simple)
DMIx is a digital colour platform. It holds spectral colour data—the full fingerprint of a shade under real light, not just an RGB guess. Coats plugs that data into our colour and 3D flow, so what you see on screen matches what mills can make in the real world. Fewer surprises. Fewer parcels. Faster “yes.”
Why “spectral” beats screenshots
RGB is for screens. CMYK is for printers. Spectral is for everything. It describes how a colour behaves across the whole rainbow, so the same file works on recycled sewing thread (like trilobal polyester thread), fabric, film, or label. Designers pick a colour once; suppliers read the same file; labs don’t argue. That shared language is the trick behind zero lab dips (or very close to it) on many styles.
From pixel to product, in one loop
Here’s the new path:
- Pick a brand shade from the DMIx library (or your own).
- Apply it to the 3D sneaker/jacket model inside your digital twin.
- Share the same spectral file with mills and print houses.
- Measure returned strikes with a handheld device; accept or auto-correct by numbers, not vibes.
Because everyone starts from the same spectral file, we skip rounds of “almost there.” That trims weeks. And cartons. And cost.
Tools that make it real
DMIx brings digital colour workflows, 3D asset libraries, and “phygital” bridges like SamplR that turn materials into accurate digital twins quickly. Coats brings global colour operations and thread expertise—40+ labs that already pass colour data electronically—now tuned to the same spectral playbook. Together, it’s a straight line from idea to approval.
What “zero lab dips” feels like on your team
- Design sees the real shade on the 3D sample, not a guessy render.
- Sourcing sends one file, not five screenshots.
- Suppliers cook the dye recipe from that file, first time.
- QA checks Delta-E by device, not by debate.
- Marketing pulls the same colour data for lifestyle images, so the PDP doesn’t lie.
Result: fewer physical dips, often none for repeat colours and common substrates. The calendar breathes. The budget smiles.
Speed + sustainability (two friends)
Cutting lab dips means cutting flights and vans. Digital handshakes mean fewer cone and fabric rejects. When colour hits right-first-time, we waste less dye, less water, less energy. Coats called this out when we announced the tie-up: faster decisions, smaller footprint, same high bar on accuracy.
How to start (tiny playbook)
- Name one hero colour. Choose the shade that always delays you.
- Lock a spectral master. Put the DMIx file in your PLM with a single name.
- Render the twin. Approve on calibrated screens under brand light.
- Brief two mills. Send the file, not an image.
- Measure return. Accept if Delta-E meets your rule (e.g., ≤1.0 for body, ≤1.5 for trims).
- Scale the wins. Roll to the next five colours and two more substrates.
One sprint like this often kills 2–3 sample rounds on the next drop.
Tips that keep “fast” fast
- Calibrate monthly. A puck on the monitor, five minutes, fewer arguments later.
- Use standard lights. Check under D65 (or your store spec).
- Separate by substrate. Same hue, different materials = separate spectral entries.
- Pin the palette. Load your top 200 brand colours into the 3D tool so designers pick the right one first.
- Write tolerances. Put Delta-E limits in tech packs; numbers make meetings short.
What about factories?
Good news: the change is small. Many dye houses already measure spectrally; now they work from your spectral master instead of reverse-engineering a photo. For trims and threads, Coats publishes the same data through the DMIx pipeline, keeping all partners in step. “Precision, transparency, sustainability”—that’s the joint bar we set.
Real examples, simple words
- Running tee pack: one spectral neon = four suppliers, first-round pass. No airfreight dips.
- Lifestyle sneaker: thread, lace, and knit match from one file. PDP photos match the shelf.
- Kids jacket: reflective print and body fabric stay siblings under daylight and store LEDs. Fewer returns for “colour looked different.”
Costs & payback (no drama)
Software time and a small device—yes. But you save flights, courier bills, lab labour, and calendar pain. Fewer iterations mean fewer surprise re-dyes at the end of the season. The ROI shows up quietly in the first quarter when you stop shipping swatches back and forth.
The bigger picture
This partnership is part of our wider digital push—linking colour, materials, and 3D twins into a single, reliable thread from design to factory. When colour stops wobbling, everything else moves faster: fit approvals, line reviews, photoshoots, launch. That’s why we did it. And that’s how we keep doing it—less guess, more know.
Wrap, neat and quick
Fast colour is not magic. It’s math, shared. Coats × DMIx gives your teams the same precise colour fingerprint at every step, so lab dips vanish, lead times shrink, and waste gets smaller. Pick a shade, lock the spectral, render the twin, press go. Next season won’t wait—now your colour won’t either.
