What does an old-fashioned loom have to do with our innovative software? More than you think. This icon from the Industrial Revolution has laid the foundation for programming and the binary system. And accelerated the fashion industry. And it is precisely this combination that makes the weaving machine the symbol for our brand story: Fashion is in our code

The history of the loom

Before we can make the link with Itsperfect, we first need a bit of background. Do you know the history of the loom? It goes all the way back to the 18th century. And as is often the case with inventions, they were busy with it in several countries at the same time.

In England, Edmund Cartwright developed the Power Loom in 1785. First with a pendulum that could be moved by hand, but that was soon replaced by water power and later steam power. The machine met with much resistance from weavers, but was an immediate success. By 1800 there were already factories in England with more than 200 steam-powered looms.

The first fully automatic weaving machine

At about the same time, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, son of a silk weaver, was in France repairing a fifty-year-old weaving machine. Building on ideas from others, he realized the first fully automatic weaving machine in 1790. The pattern formation was controlled by punched cards as information carrier, they formed the ‘program’.

Although the Jacquard mechanism is seen as a milestone in programming, it will take decades before the punched card system is used in other areas.

The origin of the binary system

To complete the story we travel on to the United States where they had a big challenge with the census around 1880. This lasted seven years, and the population grew explosively. Couldn’t it be smarter?

Inspired by Jacquard, Herman Hollerith devised the tabulation machine. A device that helped to summarize the personal information on punched cards. A row of holes (a record) indicated a number of properties per person.

The reading of this was done with protruding wires wherever there could be a hole. When there was a hole in the card, the wire passed through the card into the underlying container of mercury, making electrical contact. A hole stood for 1 and no hole for 0. And so the basis of the binary system was a fact.

Digital transformation in the 19th century

A competition was organized in search of the best way to process the count. Hollerith was on hand, with the main competitors being Hunt and Pidgin, who encoded data using a system of colors. Hollerith won with half the hours of coding and only 5 hours of processing the data.

The Hollerith machines saved the census $5 million, and the census was completed in six weeks. A true automation move that lays the foundation for programming and data storage. And maybe the former name Hollerith Company doesn’t mean much to you yet, you probably know the current IBM.

Our brand story

Where the Jacquard weaving machine caused a huge development in the fashion industry, Hollerith’s tabulating machine subsequently laid the foundation for the binary code and the computer industry. And that is where the parallel with our story begins.
We see the Jacquard weaving machine making fabric for the fashion industry through the eyes of binary code. Fashion and code are intertwined throughout our organization. We think fashion and write code.

Fashion meets tech

When developing Itsperfect, we have fully deployed our knowledge of zeros and ones to program all fashion processes in understandable language. You not only notice this when you work with our software, but you can also see it in our logo. Once you know then. The block is the zero and the dashes in it are ones. At the same time, it is a piece of fabric of which you can see the weave. Everything integrated into one complete whole, just like our solution.

Time gain

The speed with which Hollerith won the race is the lead that sets us apart from the competition. We switch quickly, release new updates every quarter, think ahead. And indeed, because we have thought about all processes extensively, it also saves you a lot of time. Not only in consultancy hours during the implementation, but also during your daily work.

Itsperfect: Fashion is in our code

While Jacquard was progressive with the first mechanical weaving machine, which accelerated the textile industry, we want to offer the most advanced software solution to fashion brands. With respect for the craftsmanship and dedication to the product. We use all our knowledge of fashion and code to work together with our customers on the smartest solution for all core fashion processes. From fabric to end product, design to sales, every collection again.

Sources:
– Warner and Sons, Science Museum London
– Wikipedia
– Techvisor.nl