You Can't Control What You Can't See
The Problem
Every item of clothing has a journey. From the fiber it's composed of to the time it's disposed of, it passes through dozens of hands across multiple continents. Yet the supply chain remains complex, fragmented, and opaque — subject to mounting regulatory pressure and consumer demands for transparency. Lack of visibility costs the apparel industry billions every year. In 2022, I led a project at Avery Dennison to change that. The starting point was IPPS — In-Plant Printing Solutions — an on-demand labeling product with real utility but stagnant growth, poor internal affinity, and messaging built entirely on technical specs. One qualitative research verbatim stuck with me: a customer described the software interface as looking straight out of 1999. Not a promising sign for the self-proclaimed future of the supply chain.
The Big Idea
The technology existed. What didn't exist was a story anyone believed in. The unlock wasn't technical — it was emotional. Supply chain professionals weren't just managing logistics. They were managing anxiety. In a world of tariffs, disruption, and regulatory pressure, what they needed wasn't just efficiency. It was control. But you can't control what you can't see. That human truth became the strategic foundation. We developed Optica — On-Demand Printing with Total Independent Control by Avery Dennison — not just as a name but as a positioning. Optica meant seeing your business clearly. It could believably describe a printer. It could just as believably describe the future of supply chain intelligence.
The Story we Told
I organized the full portfolio of supply chain solutions under one banner — taking a fragmented internal map of one-off products and building it into a coherent, high-value category. Then we built the marketing infrastructure to match the scale of the sale: including an ROI calculator that translated supply chain complexity into financial clarity. When you're asking a manufacturer to rebuild their infrastructure, the story has to justify the investment. The launch was staggered deliberately — opening with a VIP preview for factory CEOs, converting the most influential audience first and letting belief travel through the industry organically.
The Results
When we started, IPPS was a drag on Avery Dennison's innovation scores. Today, Optica serves 4,500 factory clients globally, is charged with leading year-over-year growth, and was named one of Fast Company's World's 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2026 — specifically recognized for transforming supply chain visibility across the global apparel industry. That recognition doesn't happen under the banner of IPPS. It happens when a narrative gives a product — and the people behind it — something worth believing in.
4,500
factory clients
Top 50
Fast Company Most Innovative 2026