sportstyle

"Nothing will ever fully replace actual in-person networking and engagement. While we have learned a lot about how to take advantage of technology and interact in new and creative ways, Unifi plans to return to in-person tradeshows and our mobile tour activations when it becomes safe. We will, however, continue to use the online platforms we have already invested in and expand our digital marketing footprint." Jay Hertwig VP of Commercialization, UNIFI "With the office landscape changing and remote work more prevalent, the need for having a strong digital platform is critical and worth the continued investment. Digital won't, however, completely replace in-person meetings or being able to see and touch products. We are continuing to evolve our virtual showroom and online platforms to do more, and do it more effectively, remotely while balancing that with a safe return to in-person." Brian Parnes COO/CMO, Downlite "The new, emerging virtual channel has covered the gaps for the ingredient sourcing industry. A good example of this is the development of PerformanceDays.com and FunctionalFabricFair. com of The Loop, which gathers all the infor- mation from their trade show exhibitors and presents fabrics that are easily accessible to be reviewed, and compared online. 3D has improved the visualization. Software has not been adopted so smoothly, but is progressing in the right direction." Charles Ross Performance sportswear & sustainability specialist "brrr° recently created a Digital Fabric Library so customers can see detailed descriptions of our products and request samples, and it's one of the best investments we made in recent years. It automated what had been a very manual process, and put the power directly into the hands of our customers. We also invested in custom Salesforce development to add more capabilities on purchase order tracking, ful- fillment, logistics and other core functions. We will absolutely continue to invest in our digital transformation, and we love to see our mill partners and other suppliers do the same." Mary-Cathryn Kolb Founder & CEO, brrr° "From a B2B perspective, manufacturers and wholesalers found that VR showrooms were immensely effective in driving orders from brands. The digitized programs helped expedite business in reducing the time from sales to market. The elimination of travel increases sustainability, and the upholding of professionalism and realism through the technology has enabled the supply- chain's acceleration. Going forward, virtual appointments and showrooms will be a useful tool in the fashion industry's arsenal and will undoubtedly open up more business opportunities. That said, whereas digitization and virtual interactions are here to stay, some physical meetings will remain unavoidable and essential. Whether it's trials onsite at mills and similar activities that require physical presence, there is no alternative to personal human interaction. The only question is finding the right balance. Think about fabric samples. Brands may now do their color selection on the screen but for most physical properties of a product, they would still want to have a piece of fabric sample in front of them for evaluation." Hoi Kwan Lam CMO & product management, HEIQ 2. Digitalization 3. Remote Workforce / Corporate Culture "Nester Hosiery management operates with both on-site and remote staffing. Historically, we have had remote workers in other states who traveled to the manufacturing facility several times a year. Prior to COVID, this remote work was concentrated in functions that could be easily facilitated with technology. The onset of the pandemic forced all management to transition to remote working and we were relieved to see how productive this arrangement was across multiple areas. In some ways, communication became more efficient. Reduced or zero commuting and fewer interruptions allowed a high degree of task focus. Collaboration, however, is optimized with on-site interactions and it has been refreshing to get back to working together at our factory and development center." Kelly Nester CEO, Nester Hosiery "We have always supported a large contingent of our workforce away from the office, even before the pandemic. We think our business development experts are better deployed out in the markets with the customers they serve. That flexibility has helped us recruit some of the best people in our business sectors. Before stay-at-home orders hit, we regularly brought our outside staff to headquarters in Higginsville to work with and build relationships with the people located here. We certainly have missed those team building experiences but we have worked hard to keep everyone in the loop with other methods. Video conferencing became a vital tool during the shutdown and we will continue to use it going forward. We fully intend to reinstate our regular in person meetings once travel is possible for everyone. We have a brand new showroom at our headquarters and look forward to using it for internal meetings as well as hosting our customers when they, too, are free to travel again." Greg Vas Nunes Chairman & CMO, TTG "At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented a COVID Emergency Response team to ensure we took all necessary steps to support CDC guidelines. We transitioned employees in our corporate offices to remote work. While our corporate offices are back open, we also continue to implement telecommuting and flextime policies while limiting conference room capacity and business travel. We believe corporate culture can reside in both the office and at home. Unifi is a global company, and as such, is flexible and versatile in the ways we are able to live out our corporate culture." Jay Hertwig VP of Commercialization, UNIFI "Managing NILIT operations in so many countries was excellent preparation for the situations imposed by the pandemic. However, I think we discovered a deeper appreciation for just how important face- to-face communications are in retaining and 42 • September 2021 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com • DESIGN

• Cover