Last week, you heard from us about the two key steps that tailors need to take to thrive during Covid-19. Today, we’re going to take a deeper dive on the first step: taking contactless body measurements using a 3D body scanner.
We spoke with Pony Fang, master tailor and owner of Facha Customized Suit, to learn more about how our Scanatic™ 360 Body Scanner helped him grow his business. Facha specializes in bespoke men’s suits and has shops in Taipei and Taichung, Taiwan.
How 3D body scanning enabled Mr Fang to open a second store
In the past, Mr Fang had no room to grow. He spent afternoons and evenings in his Taipei shop (his only location at the time) measuring clients, nights working on orders, and mornings at the factory inspecting garments in production. This schedule left no time to work on expansion—to say nothing of the effects on his personal life.
Plus, even if he had had time, he wouldn’t have been able to grow. “There are just too many differences between different tailors’ measurement-taking techniques,” Mr Fang told us. In the traditional by-hand process, “there’s no standardization.” To expand to another city, he would have had to travel there regularly to take clients’ measurements himself.
But after he started using TG3D Studio’s Scanatic™ 360 Body Scanner, he realized that he could deliver a consistent great fit to customers elsewhere without physically being there. He purchased a second body scanner and opened a store in Taichung, over 160 km (100 miles) away. His Taichung shop has no tailor onsite.
Facha’s second store in Taichung, which Mr Fang can manage remotely
How Facha adapted its measurement techniques for 3D body scanning
When Mr Fang first started using the 360 Body Scanner, he took some time to validate the measurements. At first, he measured clients both by hand and with the scanner, comparing the sets of measurements. But after a couple of months, he was confident that he could extract the measurements that he needed for cutting from his customer’s 3D avatar.
How 3D scanning has made Mr Fang’s work easier and more efficient
Previously, when Mr Fang measured a client’s body by hand, he would get only about 15 measurements. But now, after his customer exits the Scanatic™ 360 Body Scanner booth in his store, he can instantly use the Scanatic™ Body Service on his computer to access 250 measurements for pattern-making. He has much more detailed information now, including some measurements that he couldn’t practically have taken before. And since our body scanner’s margin of error is <1 cm, the measurements are much more accurate than ones taken by hand.
Now that he’s made the switch to 3D scanning, Mr Fang can easily recall his clients’ shapes, and he can’t imagine going back to tailoring with only a set of numbers to describe their unique bodies. “Only with a 3D avatar can I do clear analysis, like where on my customer’s body I need to add a bit of room to the garment, or where I need to make it a bit smaller,” he says.
With the visual detail and accuracy that 3D body scanning has enabled, Facha has been able to reduce its refitting rate (the percentage of customers who need to come back for adjustments after their suit is manufactured) from over 30% to less than 5%.
Mr Fang’s creations fit his customers beautifully
This jacket was made in one shot, with no alterations required
How he feels now
“I feel like I’m fresh and innovative,” Mr Fang told us. His suiting business, previously constrained to one shop in one city, transformed into a multi-city brand. And he gets to spend more of his precious time working with clients to select styles they will love, instead of being bogged down with measuring and refitting them.
Mr Fang doing what he loves