Fabric calculator takes the blade to costs

Calculations by ShapeShifter software can save clothing factories up to 4 per cent of the raw materials. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Hamish Dean hasn't played with jigsaws since he was a child, but now his livelihood is based on them.

Dean heads up ShapeShifter, a software company that has developed an application that uses puzzle-like patterns to help factories minimise waste.

ShapeShifter's software uses mathematical algorithms to lay out potentially hundreds of designs into patterns that reduce the space between parts and maximise the usage of raw materials.

The software can reduce the amount of material used by up to 4 per cent when compared to designs laid out by hand, Dean says.

The software is primarily aimed at clothing manufacturers and has been sold to factories in South America, Southeast Asia and eastern Europe.

"That's where most of the manufacturing is done. The labour rate is very cheap there and the cost of producing a garment is [mostly] fabric [which] is about 70 to 75 per cent," he says. "That's their major expense and they want to reduce that."

The software can also save time, he adds. Laying out 100 patterns by hand can take from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the maker's skill, compared with about 10 minutes using ShapeShifter.

The software has two components. An automatic tool is used to load in the different shapes and quantities needed for each part. It then generates a laid-out manufacturing pattern called a marker.

The optimiser tool applies a different algorithm to a marker, whether laid out by hand or automatically, to improve the material usage further.

The software has many potential uses from loading cargo to cutting gem stones, but Dean intends focusing on the clothing trade for the next year or two.

"There's probably half a million clothing factories in the world and at present 100,000 or less actually use CAD [computer aided design] software for the patterns.

"Even 100,000 clothing factories is a massive market and it's only going to get bigger."

ShapeShifter sells for about US$15,000 ($23,408) depending on the level of customisation needed.

It can be used by factories running either Gerber or Lectra manufacturing equipment and software. Compatibility with other software is under development and Dean examines requests from manufacturers on a case by case basis.

ShapeShifter was a finalist for Innovation of the Year at last month's Telecom Incubator Awards. The nomination helped raise the company's profile and led to an inquiry from a conveyor belt manufacturer.

Talks have been held with US-based company Gerber - which also makes software for creating markers - about incorporating ShapeShifter's tool within its broader products.

Dean developed the software for his PhD in mechanical engineering which he completed in 2002 at Canterbury University.

That was the same year ShapeShifter joined the Canterbury Innovation Incubator.

It took Dean another year to get the software ready for the market and in 2003 he took an angel investor on board to help fund the business.

The incubator helped Dean find his investor and set the firm's strategy and direction.

"When I started the company I kind of had aims of making $100,000 or something small," he says.

"I thought I could sell this to a few clothing factories and be done ... they [the incubator] opened my eyes that I should be targeting the whole world."

Dean, who is the only full-time employee, now spends about one week a month abroad and will soon be going to Hong Kong for three months to visit factories and agents.

SHAPESHIFTER TECHNOLOGY

* Who: Hamish Dean, founder and managing director.

* What: Software to optimise the use of raw materials in factories.

* Where: Canterbury Innovation Incubator.

* Why: "I guess I've always liked doing mathematical-type problems and this is just a challenging problem."