“Most people don’t know this, but we’re first and foremost a technology company. We just happen to sell a lot of T-shirts.”

Those are the words of Rob Hamill, chief strategy officer at Counselor Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358). As the promo industry continues to be transformed by digital technology, the Bolingbrook, IL-based company has been investing heavily in automation, machine learning and software solutions to reduce manual work, improve inventory accuracy and streamline fulfillment.

S&S Activewear (asi/84358) has invested heavily in automation solutions at its distribution centers and has launched technology to help decorator customers reduce manual handling in their own shops.

The supplier has an in-house development team consisting of 40 software engineers and developers “that do nothing but solve problems for our customers and help us find ways to innovate,” Hamill adds.

The apparel company says it was among the first companies to create a proprietary API for customers to help enable efficient workflows. Over the last three years, S&S Activewear has invested $200 million in warehouse automation capabilities that enable an order accuracy rate higher than 99% for customers.

Last month, the supplier announced a proprietary “machine-powered intelligence layer” called ApparelSoft IQ, which is designed to anticipate customer demand, optimize inventory decisions and improve how business operates at scale.

ApparelSoft IQ, developed by S&S Activewear’s data science team, is powered by a comprehensive dataset, combining more than 35 years of historical data from S&S Activewear as well as from alphabroder, acquired in 2024. The company uses machine learning on the dataset, which spans styles, colors, sizes, geographies and customer segments, to generate purchasing recommendations and inventory positioning decisions, helping reduce out-of-stock situations and improve how inventory is planned and deployed across the supplier’s network.

“Inventory planning has been near and dear to my heart since my first day at S&S,” said CEO Frank Myers, a member of the Counselor Power 50 list of the most influential people in promo. “Having deep and reliable inventory is the most fundamental thing we can do for our customers.”

Over time, the company says, ApparelSoft IQ will extend beyond forecasting to power intelligence and automation across internal operations and customer-facing capabilities, including enhanced product recommendations and insights to help customers grow. “We’re not just reacting to demand,” said Josh Clark, chief operating officer. “We’re anticipating it and positioning inventory ahead of it.”

“We’re first and foremost a technology company. We just happen to sell a lot of T-shirts.”Rob Hamill, S&S Activewear (asi/84358)

Another significant development, according to the company, is ZeroTouch technology, a workflow solution that enables decorator customers to operate more profitably, lowering error rates and reducing waste.

After a ZeroTouch order is received, via S&S Activewear’s proprietary API, all product-specific decoration data is transmitted to the order-picking facility, according to Hamill. Decoration instructions provided by the customer are transmitted onto heat-resistant custom QR code stickers placed directly onto garments. An additional barcode is added to the shipping label, enabling decorator receiving departments to route orders directly to the decoration station, rather than having to manually receive, verify, sort and store orders until they’re ready to be decorated.

ZeroTouch, launched at the beginning of the year, was developed with feedback from S&S Activewear’s decorator partners to ensure it would meet their needs, and Hamill notes that the supplier already has more than 10 leading apparel decorators using the technology today. “We designed ZeroTouch to almost be like flipping a switch,” he adds. “It’s five additional lines of code that layer into our custom API.”

So far, Hamill says, decorators have been pleased with the solution. “The biggest thing that we’ve heard from multiple very large customers is that this is unlocking north of 50% of cost savings in labor and time from the product receiving, staging, stocking and then decoration execution process.”

The solution works seamlessly for orders of all sizes, but Hamill notes it’s particularly powerful for print-on-demand workflows. In fact, as part of a wider ZeroTouch launch, S&S Activewear says it’s partnering with Stahls’ (asi/88984) Fulfill Engine, a platform known for its production management and fulfillment technology supporting apparel decorators, e-commerce sellers and fulfillment providers. Bringing ZeroTouch capabilities to Fulfill Engine’s channels expands access to production automation across the branded merch industry, according to S&S Activewear.

“Fulfill Engine helps decorators create production-ready jobs with garment-level identification, but there is still manual work required when blanks are received, including applying stickers before garments move into production,” explains Jayson Tompkins, founder and chief digital officer for Stahls’ Fulfill Engine. “That step can take time, add labor and create an opportunity for error.”

By making ZeroTouch available through Fulfill Engine, decorators can help “reduce those manual touchpoints by allowing eligible orders to arrive with scanning identification already in place, so garments can be scanned into the system and routed more efficiently,” Tompkins adds.

S&S Activewear ranked second on Counselor’s most recent list of top suppliers, with estimated 2024 North American revenue of $3.6 billion. New rankings will be released in July.