Cargo couture: selecting tailored, wearable tech for your collection

Models strut down the catwalk as fashion giants look on – viewers take note of the product’s material, fit and whether the item is “Prêt-à-Porter,” or ready to wear. Keep in mind, this show is only one of a slew of stakeholders in haute couture have attended worldwide and now they must select pieces from this mass assortment to include in their seasonal capsule collections of products.

Like designers sifting through the most recent trends in the global haute couture that take the world of fashion by storm each season, wearable tech is the latest trend emerging as a hot segment in the burgeoning wave of technological innovations strutting down the air cargo and logistics runway. However, in this burgeoning wave of new products on the market leaders in air cargo and logistics must practice discernment in what pieces to include in their “closets.”

“It’s important to maintain a nuanced view of the technology and how it will improve your specific case,” DB Schenker Americas director of innovation and e-commerce John Stikes told Air Cargo World on the issue. “A product may be advertised as improving a process x%, but may function differently in different product lines or uses, like e-commerce, freight and logistics buildings.”

With this in mind, companies are learning using the selected technology, such as scanner gloves and augmented and virtual reality specs to their individual ops, allows them to strengthen the role of the human workforce in operations. And through this process the pieces have evolved to now be mobile, ergonomic, multi-use, gamified and customizable.

Reflecting the spirit of well-known American fashion consultant Tim Gunn, stakeholders in air cargo and logistics are experts in learning how to “make it work.”