Wellington
The term mass customisation is one that will increasingly become common. (Feel free to say youheard it here first!)
An example is a pair of jeans, made, perhaps on the premise, exactly to fit the purchaser.
Wellington-originated, globally located (well San Francisco anyway) company
Founder and chief executive of start-up software company
77Pieces
, Sebastian Marino, says it "is interesting to be at the leading edge of the future ofmass customisation." (See more about its unique software
For the fashion industry, 77 Pieces has virtual prototyping software that enables a moving 3-Dimage to be rendered from a two dimensional pattern as it's created. Adjustments to either thepattern or image can flow backwards and forwards - something no one else in the world hasdone.
The company's selected clothing as the first market for its CAD-software, though the heavymathematics and algorithm-based program is suitable for any flexible material where users want tosee the final shape and movement of their product designs.
"We provide the ability to make a pattern and to analyse the structure and understand what it'sgoing to do," Marino says.
From an engineering point of view, a prediction of what a shape will be is very important. Anexample is pneumatic flexible sheeting (such as in a balloon), where it is necessary to understandhow the structure will move as conditions change.
As part of this coming mass customisation "we're keen to be a next generation company rather thanjust a new company with a new trick up its sleeve," he says.
This includes new creation technologies such as 3-D printing and CNC milling, items which may oneday be cheap enough to be seen in a home situation.
Wellington is also a great place for 77 Pieces to develop its software products Marino says, "andis well-placed to be the next Silicon Valley."
The city can attract and keep talented people in the IT space for a number of intrinsic reasonssuch as a reasonable cost of living, a beautiful environment and nice people Marino, an American,says. As a film production expert, he and his team have and authored more than 30 mathematics basedresearch papers, he could base himself virtually anywhere in the world.
"The country turns out great computer scientists from Victoria, Canterbury and Otagouniversities, as well as AUT, and Wellington can offer a compelling work experience," he says.
Many people don’t realize it, but with Weta Digital headquartered in Wellington there’s a constantly changing who’s-who population of the computergraphics and computer science elite.
"When you’re here you can walk down the street and bump into people who may be artists,researchers or professors from the most prestigious institutions in the world," he says
"Overwhelmingly, everyone loves his or her time spent in Wellington. We certainly look to takefull advantage of this opportunity, and give people an interesting and meaningful workplace shouldthey want to take a break from visual effects, or a shop where where professors can send their topstudents to work or intern with us,"
"All the intrinsic qualities are already here; good schools, reasonable cost of living, beautifulenvironment. To advance Wellington as a technology hub we need to create momentum, and for that weneed to create more internationally competitive jobs."