-- Companies announce pilot project to explore
first-of-its-kind approach to more quickly and efficiently convert
yarn directly into garments --
Walmart (NYSE: WMT), the world’s leading omnichannel retailer,
today announced a pilot project with unspun, a pioneering fashion
tech company using the world’s first 3D weaving technology, a
collaboration that, if successful, could help reduce the
environmental impact of garment production, offer a more
sustainable process for meeting apparel demand and support the
companies’ shared commitment to shift more textile manufacturing
back to the U.S. Out of its micro factory in Oakland, California,
unspun’s first-of-its-kind technology promises to more quickly and
efficiently transform yarn into garments.
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Walmart and unspun work together to
reduce the environmental impact of garment production. (Photo:
Business Wire)
The pilot project directly addresses concerns about waste in the
apparel industry – a significant global challenge – driven
primarily by fabric loss from traditional flat weaving, cutting and
garment assembly, and from discarded extra inventory built to meet
growing consumer demand and fashion trends. These issues, combined
with the emissions generated from transporting garments and fabrics
supplied offshore, have created demand for more sustainable apparel
manufacturing supply chain solutions.
“At Walmart, we are laser-focused on bringing innovation to our
supply chain to better serve our customers and solve industry
challenges, and unspun has the potential to do just that,” said
Andrea Albright, executive vice president, Sourcing, Walmart. “The
technology we are piloting with unspun has the potential to unlock
more skilled job creation in the U.S., meet consumer demand for
locally made garments and deliver on our commitment for greater
transparency and sustainability in our apparel supply chain.”
Pilot Will Examine 3D Weaving for Pants
In the pilot project, the two companies will explore how
unspun’s 3D weaving machines can be used to make workwear style
pants under a Walmart house brand. With 3D weaving, yarn is spun
directly into completed garments. This is an innovative and new
approach to garment manufacturing. Traditionally, yarn is woven
into one-dimensional fabrics, which are then cut and assembled into
garments – creating waste and taking significant time and multiple
manufacturing steps. The 3D weaving process is different from
commonly known 3D printing, which creates a physical object from a
digital design by laying down thin layers of liquid or powdered
plastic, metal or cement.
The two companies aspire to deepen the collaboration into later
phases should the pilot prove successful. unspun, in collaboration
with a manufacturing partner, hopes to ultimately deploy additional
microsites around the U.S. for on- and near-shored manufacturing,
with locations to be determined. unspun has an ambition to have 350
machines in the U.S. by 2030.
“The pressing need to address ongoing climate change, reduce
carbonization and drive to more transparent and localized apparel
manufacturing practices is at the heart of our mission,” said Beth
Esponnette, co-founder of unspun. “We have been running low-volume
production of commercial products at our first micro factory with
proven third-party life cycle assessments to back the impact of
this new type of production. Now, together with Walmart, we see an
enormous opportunity to take our innovations to scale, with the
potential to disrupt the garment manufacturing industry, bring jobs
to the USA and drastically reduce waste in apparel.”
"unspun's technology aims to be the fastest, highest quality and
most economical way to make woven garments period. Innovative
industry leaders like Walmart are beginning to see the future
potential impact, and we expect there to be continued interest as
the unspun team builds the future of manufacturing," said Shuo
Yang, Lowercarbon Capital.
Shaping the Future of Retail
Today’s announcement closely follows a series of innovative tech
initiatives unveiled by Walmart in recent months. On Jan. 9, 2024,
at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Walmart
showcased tech-powered enhancements, including expanded drone
delivery in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex; computer vision
exit technology at Sam’s Clubs; AI, GenAI and AR enhancements for
customers, members and associates; along with ambitious commitments
to clean energy. In July 2023, Walmart announced a pilot for
innovative carbon capture and conversion technology also for the
apparel manufacturing supply chain.
A long-time leader on sustainability, Walmart has worked with
suppliers, NGOs and climate action leaders to inspire positive
change across global value chains since 2005. In its own
operations, Walmart has set a goal to be powered 50% by renewable
energy by 2025 and 100% by 2035. More than 5,900 suppliers globally
are engaged in Project Gigaton™, and as of February 21, suppliers
have now reported projects that are expected to exceed the 1
billion metric ton mark, helping Walmart reach their goal six years
early.
About unspun:
Founded by Beth Esponnette, Walden Lam and Kevin Martin, unspun
is a fashion and technology company with a mission to revolutionize
garment production and reduce waste in the fashion industry. They
have pioneered Vega™️, the world's first 3D weaving technology,
which efficiently transforms yarn into garments. By implementing
Vega™️ in microfactories, unspun aims to disrupt traditional
fashion manufacturing, eliminate the requirement for large order
quantities and decrease transportation emissions and lead times.
unspun’s technological capabilities and vision for the future of
fashion have landed the company on the Vogue 100 innovator's list,
Newsweek’s Climate Change innovators, TIME's Best Inventions, Fast
Company's World-Changing Ideas and a B-corp certification. To learn
more about unspun, visit https://www.unspun.io.
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is a people-led, tech-powered
omnichannel retailer helping people save money and live better -
anytime and anywhere - in stores, online, and through their mobile
devices. Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members
visit more than 10,500 stores and numerous eCommerce websites in 19
countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, Walmart
employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart
continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy,
and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart
can be found by visiting corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at
facebook.com/walmart, on Twitter at twitter.com/walmart, and on
LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/walmart.
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blair.cromwell@walmart.com
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
過去 株価チャート
から 4 2024 まで 5 2024
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
過去 株価チャート
から 5 2023 まで 5 2024